[simonv3]

Think about all the kids who don't see women in the tech fields and thus don't see it as a viable career path.

The "small pool of women CS graduates" argument is bunkt because CS is a meritocracy - so many men prove themselves through code rather than having gone to a college, and the only reason women don't is because they're discouraged at every turn - upon being hired, in the work place, at social gatherings.

Why does the graduates argument pose a problem for women while its so often celebrated when men skipped college or dropped out of college and became successful within our field?

[yummyfajitas]

Why does the graduates argument pose a problem for women while its so often celebrated when men skipped college or dropped out of college and became successful within our field?

Is there a large pool of women who download python, work "learn python the hard way", and put some repos on github?

If not, then just as there is a small pool of female CS graduates, there is also a small pool of female autodidacts.

[simonv3]

Good job! You've discovered that the problem isn't one of women not getting into colleges.

Edit: I'm not saying it's not part of the problem, but the problem is obviously not just that.

[cafard]

Where do kids see people in tech fields, unless their parents work in them? Maybe you could count the math & science faculty of high school or college, maybe it's popular culture?