[parfe]

So why choose computer science as an area to push for more women to participate in?

It seems like the opposite of equality.

"Here are a bunch of dangerous, yet lucrative career tracks, but I think more women should be programmers because it's safer than climbing a ladder."

[missizii]

Women are more risk averse than men. It's a well-known evolutionary strategy for men to choose high-risk/high-reward pursuits.

Also, you completely ignored my point about these careers being suited to physically extremely strong people, which are disproportionately men (due to biological differences).

Women should be programmers because they are as mentally capable as men, and they can handle the minimal physical requirements. If a woman is just as strong as a male lumberjack/fisherman/etc, and perfectly fine with the risk, then she should be able to do that job as well.

(More than 500,000 people are treated in the US for ladder-related injuries.)

[parfe]

It's absurd to be fulling willing to believe, on average, that physically a woman is weaker than a man, but for some reason her brain ( a physical structure! ) is identical in all areas of ability.

[missizii]

Are you arguing that because men are, on average, physically stronger than women, it implies that they are smarter or more analytical than women?

That's like arguing that because women have, on average, smaller feet than men, they are smarter or more analytical than men.

[parfe]

I didn't say smarter. You made that up.

If you're willing to accept that men and women have different physical characteristics and different aversion to risk, why then must the brain have an exemption when it comes to ability? Why can't men be more comfortable programming a computer?

And the more important question, why should there be an effort to lure women into computing?

[marquis]

>And the more important question, why should there be an effort to lure women into computing?

well, that's a fair question but what about the opposite? "why should there not be an effort to lure anyone into computing?"

there are a lot of people who have a genuine interest in computing, but don't enter it because of either lack of role models or social pressure. so, they are really missing out on something that may make them happy as adults, and for reasons beyond their control. not beyond their ability.

another factor i've noticed a lot in my career, working as a programmer but interacting with a lot of creatives, is that a lot of people, perhaps young women, are not interested in spending a huge amount of time alone, which may be the only pre-requisite to learning computing - being interested in finding out how stuff works more than going out with your friends and/or succumbing to peer pressure to be sociable. computing isn't something you can do with a group of people. you can sit in the same room but ultimately you need to focus for long periods of time without distraction. i just haven't met a lot of people in my life who can/want to do that, and aren't already in a field that needs that focus.