[tekalon]

Isn't that what conferences, hacker/maker spaces, 'women in STEM' lunches are doing? My sister who was interested in math and physics in high school had a female teacher/mentor that had competitions and math clubs. Half of the participating students were female (including me). That was a major encouragement that got me into computers. It took until I was done with a degree in history for me to realise that humanities don't pay (well), and I like computing. Neither my sister or I are very social (she has autism and I have social anxiety). What would have helped is less 'social' and more mentoring and available resources, which I am seeing being more and more available than what I had in high school.

[SteveDeFacto]

Going out on a limb here but are both your parents high-achievers? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2064478/Autism-lin...

[tekalon]

Not particularly (as hard as it is for a child to say about their parents). My mother has ADHD, and only diagnosed 2-3 years ago, which caused issues in school and work and any other ambitions. We're pretty sure my father has autism, but getting him formally diagnosed would make no difference. Due to him being in finance during the recession, he had trouble adapting to the new career environment.