A little less than a year ago, I was wandering around a tiny corner of the Microsoft campus with a friend who works there, and came across a sign on a door that read, "Internet Explorer for Unix Project".
Of course, the door was shut tight, and there was no visible light coming from inside. So, for all I know, it could have been a broom closet.
I don't think we need to treat girls as somehow deviant, or sub-optimally prepared for CS. I think it might be more productive to question how we raise boys in our culture, and that maybe they're driven to technical fields more than they ought to be.
In the U.S., at least, girls are raised to value interpersonal relationships more than boys are, and girls have more opportunities to develop general relationship skills. Boys, on the other hand, become emotionally isolated at a very early age, and have no choice but to turn to other areas (such as developing technical skills, or ways to make money) to try to develop a sense of self-worth.
Boys, and then men, live their lives valuing those technical (or money-making) skills, believing that that's the only thing they have to contribute, that, if they don't have those skills, then they're no use to anybody. As a result, men will put up with all kinds of crap, whether abuse or even physical danger, if they make enough money to make up for it. This creates some truly miserable work environments, and anyone who believes that there's more to them than their job (which includes most women in my culture), will get out. So women tend to self-select for jobs that are more satisfying. And that self-selection trickles down to the college level, too.
So what's the solution? Hell, I don't know. Hug your kids. Don't make fun of a boy, just because he's crying. Or something else. But let's not act like the culture is working fine as it is, and let's not say that women are the problem that needs to be solved.
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Of course, the door was shut tight, and there was no visible light coming from inside. So, for all I know, it could have been a broom closet.
In the U.S., at least, girls are raised to value interpersonal relationships more than boys are, and girls have more opportunities to develop general relationship skills. Boys, on the other hand, become emotionally isolated at a very early age, and have no choice but to turn to other areas (such as developing technical skills, or ways to make money) to try to develop a sense of self-worth.
Boys, and then men, live their lives valuing those technical (or money-making) skills, believing that that's the only thing they have to contribute, that, if they don't have those skills, then they're no use to anybody. As a result, men will put up with all kinds of crap, whether abuse or even physical danger, if they make enough money to make up for it. This creates some truly miserable work environments, and anyone who believes that there's more to them than their job (which includes most women in my culture), will get out. So women tend to self-select for jobs that are more satisfying. And that self-selection trickles down to the college level, too.
So what's the solution? Hell, I don't know. Hug your kids. Don't make fun of a boy, just because he's crying. Or something else. But let's not act like the culture is working fine as it is, and let's not say that women are the problem that needs to be solved.
YMMV. Thanks for listening.