Well, historically there's a connection between old large machines (eg, power tools, factories, etc.) and the evolution to computers.
As for the moment, I think it's at least party due to men (probably more relevantly boys) being interested in things like Sci-fi, etc. But that also does seem to be changing-- looking at the fan base for various new Sci-fi movies/tv shows. Overall, I wonder if the nerdiness of women is catching up to the nerdiness of men... haha.
(On the other end of things, it is the case that at least for a while, secretaries were the only ones who could type well-- so there are still a few 50-70 year old men out there who can't type on a computer.)
Personally I think the youth culture being dominated by cell phones, instant messaging, etc., is changing things significantly. But there's still definitely a male factor in the nerdiness of wanting to become a programmer. I wonder if that's something biological (on average of course) or just a historical effect.
(As a sidenote, your story made me think of "The IT Crowd". Do you know the show? It's great. But perhaps they do need a woman on the IT side of things in the show who actually knows what she's doing...)
Cross-post edit:
That's interesting. And it seems true. But there's also evidence to the contrary-- a good friend of mine in high school met his girlfriend (now wife) playing WoW or something like that online. And I've heard that kind of story enough to think it's not all that rare-- there are female gamers out there. I wonder how many...Originally Posted by KB
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