This relies on some sort of implied theory that women require female role models in order to be encouraged to break into an industry(and vice versa, probably).

This relies on some sort of implied theory that women require female role models in order to be encouraged to break into an industry(and vice versa, probably). I don't know if it's true or not, but I find way more in common between me and the nerdy girl studying programming in my class than between me and the tall athlete playing football. I would have thought that our shared love for programming and geeky stuff would be a sign that this is a space with shared values, more than the gender of the speakers. Of course, this may be a skewed perspective since there have always been men in the hobbies that I picked; but I would also think that a woman breaking into programming would be aware of the existing gender disparity, just like I am aware I would be a "gender minority" if I pursued teaching or psychology(things I was actually interested in due to great female role models in my youth!)