Warning: sweeping generalizations to follow.<p>Most people who end up being programmers are nerds. Nerds who, in their teens, spent time playing with computers instead of partying with friends and crowning the high school social pyramid.<p>There are many more outright nerdy high school guys than there are girls, and the nerd boys are more likely to turn to computers.<p>What makes someone become a nerd? Probably a combination of social aptitude and physical attractiveness in the early teens. It doesn't help that girls reach puberty much earlier than boys do. Combined with the fact that girls are easier on the eyes than boys, and that they tend to be a little more socially adept, probably leads to there being more boys than girls who have difficulties in middle and high school, and end up falling back on computers.<p>Lastly, the nerd guys tend to occupy themselves with things more technical than girls, for the same reason boys play with transformers action figures, while girls play with barbie dolls.<p>--<p>PS: I'm no PhD in social studies, this is all conjecture and probably wrong.
"The fact that computer science is ill-suited in preparing new engineers to enter the workforce"<p>You can argue that colleges aren't preparing students all you want, but it's definitely not a FACT. I was very well prepared to enter the workforce after school, as were many of my friends. I've met plenty of recent college grads that absolutely had the skills necessary to be successful developers at my former and current job. I personally think that the university level is the place that we can start solving this problem.<p>The problem of women in tech is a social problem. As long as there is a major imbalance, it will make women uncomfortable. Things can absolutely be done to make this environment better for women, but it also is going to take some strong women to really stand up and deal with it to start balancing the scales.
<i>At the college level, some universities have instituted a policy of having a 50% ratio of women to men entering computer science, but high attrition brings the number down between 10 and 20% for graduates.</i><p>And this is why "quotas" are complete and total crap. If a school has 1000 openings for their CS program and the policy says the 500 should be women and then half of them drop out that is 250 spots that could have gone to someone else. Quotas do not allow for the most qualified/capable people to get the spots. It is a shame that these policies keep going on. I understand they were designed to combat discrimination but they just traded one bias for another.