> It's easy to say that women are just "less interested" in CS/Math, but that's a cop-out. One might point out that a job in a large law firm is often boring and exceedingly detail-oriented (it's kind of like debugging code actually). One might point out that such jobs are also guarded by an entrance examination that depends very heavily on formal logic, something women aren't stereotypical good at. Yet, law firms around the country are full of women.
> ...
> Given that CS is such a great way to a solid middle class income, and so many girls clearly have the aptitude for it, I find it very difficult to chalk up their self-selection out of CS to merely "interest."
Here's the thing. Law is a high-status field. STEM frankly hasn't been until very recently, which is why it's suddenly become an issue. When the tech bubble pops and the rest of the economy recovers, STEM careers will return to low-status and the feminist outrage will dissipate. No one seems to mind that, say, garbage handling or logging are male-dominated professions, though if there was an irrational exuberance for timber instead of software maybe there would be more outrage about women loggers.
Incidentally, women seem to be less underrepresented among CS folks in cultures where STEM professions are not historically low-status. It just seems that women aren't interested in breaking into male-dominated, low-status professions. Who can blame them? It's a lot of effort for very little reward. Women can already get into female-dominated, low-status professions more easily.
"women seem to be less underrepresented among CS folks in cultures where STEM professions are not historically low-status."
The correlation isn't so clear. STEM is even more unpopular among Japanese and Korean women than English-speaking nation women.
But thanks for pointing out that CS is hardly a desirable route to a good and comfortable life unless you love it for its own sake. It requires the same level of skills and ability necessary for a much more profitable and less difficult career in medicine, law, accountancy, dentistry, business administration, public administration, or the like.
> ...
> Given that CS is such a great way to a solid middle class income, and so many girls clearly have the aptitude for it, I find it very difficult to chalk up their self-selection out of CS to merely "interest."
Here's the thing. Law is a high-status field. STEM frankly hasn't been until very recently, which is why it's suddenly become an issue. When the tech bubble pops and the rest of the economy recovers, STEM careers will return to low-status and the feminist outrage will dissipate. No one seems to mind that, say, garbage handling or logging are male-dominated professions, though if there was an irrational exuberance for timber instead of software maybe there would be more outrage about women loggers.
Incidentally, women seem to be less underrepresented among CS folks in cultures where STEM professions are not historically low-status. It just seems that women aren't interested in breaking into male-dominated, low-status professions. Who can blame them? It's a lot of effort for very little reward. Women can already get into female-dominated, low-status professions more easily.