> Ask yourself why you're so quick to dismiss the "minority of women" and "activists'" experiences. That's a good question. Personally, I take people seriously

> Ask yourself why you're so quick to dismiss the "minority of women" and "activists'" experiences. That's a good question. Personally, I take people seriously if they take the problem seriously. I don't take activists seriously because too many of the them come from a subjective "feels before facts" place, and my strong belief that the main reason there is a gender disparity in tech is that women simply aren't interested (which TFA proves). I emphatically think that tech would greatly benefit from having a more equal gender ratio, but I think that the programs and solutions activists want to implement -- and have implemented, like affirmative action -- and the impossibility of discussing their validity is absurd. What we should focus on is the reasons behind women's disinterest in engineering fields. What are they? None of their friends want to pursue the field? Culture? Biology? Lack of role models? That they simply, given the chance, would rather do something else? Perhaps a mix of the above? Once we've identified what the reasons are, and which reasons we can actually do something about, we should use this information to eliminate any external obstacles preventing women to choose a tech career. My sad anecdotal experience from asking many brilliant women why they wouldn't pursue a career in IT even though they clearly possess the potential for it, is that because they are brilliant they can choose any career path they want, and they are more interested in things that are not tech, because tech is not social enough. In the end, I believe much of it is a PR issue; we need to get rid of the cultural idea that IT is only for the anti-social 80s hacker living in his mom's basement. Affirmative action, e.g., "positive" discrimination, may indirectly deal with this PR issue, but surely there are many, many methods that are better and more fair to everyone?