[marquis]

>but it wasn't magic

No. I'm also not an world-class tennis player even though I played tennis since I was able to hold a racket and had good teachers. I just happen to be good at problem solving, making and fixing and tinkering. Most of friends who were at school who liked to build things also went on to have technical careers, just not with computer programming. So, I think that we are only starting to see a new generation coming up for whom computers aren't something they met when they were older, so there will start to be a lot more natural female programmers among them. In my generation it was rare for a father to take interest in a girl's technical inclinations, and I think I'm really lucky for that early experience. My point is that I just think this is a phase and a generation not far away won't face this gender discrepancy.

[mitochondrion]

I'd just like to throw it out there that perhaps your problem solving ability developed in lockstep with your tinkering.