# Is it unusual that most of my classmates in my MS Office class are women? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 23, 2014, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unusual-that-most-of-my-classmates-in-my-ms-office-class-are-women/686735 "2014-04-23T02:54:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stoned\_stoner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stoned\_stoner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoned_stoner)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unusual-that-most-of-my-classmates-in-my-ms-office-class-are-women/686735/1 "2014-04-23T02:54:40Z")
Most of my classmates in my MS Office Applications class are women. I’m one of only two guys in the class. I don’t have a problem with it, but do you find this unusual? I mean, I didn’t know women were also interested in using Microsoft programs. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unusual-that-most-of-my-classmates-in-my-ms-office-class-are-women/686735/2 "2014-04-23T03:05:34Z")
Hmm…surprised 2 guys are willing to admit they don’t know how to use MS Office 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unusual-that-most-of-my-classmates-in-my-ms-office-class-are-women/686735/3 "2014-04-23T03:11:56Z")
That kind of courses attracts a ridiculous amount of women, often including some who are already perfectly qualify to use the program in question but who think they need to improve because there’s some icons they’ve never used. Normally, the reason they’ve never used those particular icons is because they don’t have any reason to use them. What, did you think all women used Linux and OOO? ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unusual-that-most-of-my-classmates-in-my-ms-office-class-are-women/686735/4 "2014-04-23T03:34:50Z")
I think men are more likely to wing it, try to figure it out as they go or look up the information online. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unusual-that-most-of-my-classmates-in-my-ms-office-class-are-women/686735/5 "2014-04-23T03:47:15Z")
Dude, you’re just high. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unusual-that-most-of-my-classmates-in-my-ms-office-class-are-women/686735/6 "2014-04-23T03:56:56Z")
I have the pleasure (?!) of teaching these courses. At my college it’s the “Introduction to Computers” class so literally everyone has to take the course, so my classes are pretty mixed. However, judging from the interest-level in the material the women are more into it in general. Many of them are in Accounting or “Business Technology”, which is what administrative assistants need for their jobs. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unusual-that-most-of-my-classmates-in-my-ms-office-class-are-women/686735/7 "2014-04-23T04:03:48Z")
> [@Stoned\_stoner](#): > > l mean, I didn’t know women were also interested in using Microsoft programs. FTR, this is the sentence that I should have included in my first post. ---
**Author:** ![troubledwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@troubledwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troubledwater)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unusual-that-most-of-my-classmates-in-my-ms-office-class-are-women/686735/8 "2014-04-23T04:24:05Z")
To be fair, **Stoned\_stoner** [isn’t the only one who is surprised](http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/03/04/microsoft_ads_show_women_focused_on_how_computers_can_help_their_wedding.html). ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unusual-that-most-of-my-classmates-in-my-ms-office-class-are-women/686735/9 "2014-04-23T12:17:54Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > That kind of courses attracts a ridiculous amount of women, often including some who are already perfectly qualify to use the program in question but who think they need to improve because there’s some icons they’ve never used. Normally, the reason they’ve never used those particular icons is because they don’t have any reason to use them. What, did you think all women used Linux and OOO? Maybe he thinks women look good & file their fingernails when not answering the phone. MS Office skills are required for today’s Administrative Assistants–formerly known as secretaries. And are also used by professionals–who don’t have AA’s or want their AA’s free to do things like filling out the expense reports for the last conference they attended. Many of those professionals are women. Having attended a class\* proves\* you know something, even if you are capable fo figuring out most of it on your own. Documentation counts. Sometimes you do pick up some good information in a class… ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unusual-that-most-of-my-classmates-in-my-ms-office-class-are-women/686735/10 "2014-04-23T13:41:11Z")
In my experience, women are more likely not to even try to learn something new until they’re dragged there. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unusual-that-most-of-my-classmates-in-my-ms-office-class-are-women/686735/11 "2014-04-23T13:58:08Z")
Women still hold most administrative assistant jobs these days, and Office is an absolutely necessary tool for that. Usually, Word is less of an issue than Excel (and Access, though it’s not widely used). Women do use word processors in high school, but may not have any familiarity with Excel. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unusual-that-most-of-my-classmates-in-my-ms-office-class-are-women/686735/12 "2014-04-23T13:59:30Z")
Did I just wake up in 1995 or something? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unusual-that-most-of-my-classmates-in-my-ms-office-class-are-women/686735/13 "2014-04-23T14:05:15Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Did I just wake up in 1995 or something? Did you know, too, that all the people on the internet who purport to be women are really 15 year old boys? 😉 (And all those who purport to be 15 year old girls are middle aged men.) ---
**Author:** ![Stoned\_stoner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stoned\_stoner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoned_stoner)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unusual-that-most-of-my-classmates-in-my-ms-office-class-are-women/686735/14 "2014-04-23T23:55:39Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Women still hold most administrative assistant jobs these days Is it common for men to hold administrative assistant jobs too? Because like I said, I’m one of only two men in my class. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unusual-that-most-of-my-classmates-in-my-ms-office-class-are-women/686735/15 "2014-04-24T00:40:33Z")
> [@Stoned\_stoner](#): > > Is it common for men to hold administrative assistant jobs too? Because like I said, I’m one of only two men in my class. 😕 No. It’s not. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I have known male administrative assistants though, and I’m pretty sure they were gay, just like male flight attendants. Not that there’s anything wrong with that either. ETA: Everyone who works today in some professional manner must know how to use Microsoft Office products proficiently: everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unusual-that-most-of-my-classmates-in-my-ms-office-class-are-women/686735/16 "2014-04-24T01:38:43Z")
Ok, so is this a college class? a high school one? The only MS classes I’m used to are one or two day ones offered by the folks I work for. The only time I went to one was when we switched to the version with the damn ribbon. And, yes, most admin assistants are female. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unusual-that-most-of-my-classmates-in-my-ms-office-class-are-women/686735/17 "2014-04-24T01:47:26Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > In my experience, women are more likely not to even try to learn something new until they’re dragged there. I know, right? It’s a real shame so many of us girls get dragged to college - even more than boys these days - when we could be using that time to get a jump on making babies and keeping house for our husbands. But no, they force us to take classes while our ova languish on the proverbial vine. Damn them. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unusual-that-most-of-my-classmates-in-my-ms-office-class-are-women/686735/18 "2014-04-24T01:55:16Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > In my experience, women are more likely not to even try to learn something new until they’re dragged there. Girls is stubborn and ignorant! ---
**Author:** ![Stoned\_stoner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stoned\_stoner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoned_stoner)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unusual-that-most-of-my-classmates-in-my-ms-office-class-are-women/686735/19 "2014-04-24T02:22:30Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > No. It’s not. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I have known male administrative assistants though, and I’m pretty sure they were gay, just like male flight attendants. So it’s not common? Are you serious? But why is this? If male office workers are becoming extinct, I may have to change my career plan. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Stoned\_stoner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stoned\_stoner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoned_stoner)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unusual-that-most-of-my-classmates-in-my-ms-office-class-are-women/686735/20 "2014-04-24T02:26:31Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Ok, so is this a college class? a high school one? It’s an adult education class. Would that be considered a college class, or something completely different? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-unusual-that-most-of-my-classmates-in-my-ms-office-class-are-women/686735.md?page=2)