It's funny that the author disparages this Quillette article as, "discouraging theories of biological superiority," when a fair reading of it actually includes

It's funny that the author disparages this Quillette article as, "discouraging theories of biological superiority," when a fair reading of it actually includes the author's point. Much of it addresses skews in preferences. Even James Damore's memo devoted a portion to consideration of preferences, and suggested changing the field to better fit preferences. http://quillette.com/2018/02/15/sex-stem-stubborn-facts-stubborn-ideologies/ http://quillette.com/2018/02/15/sex-stem-stubborn-facts-stub... Many fields have demographic skews, and many of these are a result of preferences, some in favor of women, even in highly technical areas. (And these can change over time for non-nefarious reasons.) No-one you should take seriously thinks men are somehow biologically anointed to be "superior." However, no one you should take seriously thinks men and women are biologically identical blank slates, particularly if that is really motivated by an ideological feel-good story. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKmyO3hbOz8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKmyO3hbOz8 Part 2: As a profession, computer engineering is perceived to be [X] There is some important kernel of truth to this. I've known women who can code, but who definitely don't want to, including my wife who actually feels sorry for me whenever she tries to imagine what my day is like. Furthermore, I would say that there aspects of the culture of programming which act to degrade its meritocracy, and some of those are culturally skewed against women. I don't think that an attitude of witch-hunt and inquisition is the way to do that, however. Rather, I think the kind of discussion which James Damore thought he was going to have when he penned his memo is the solution. Note that this is entirely independent of what he said in his memo -- the kind of discussion he reportedly imagined would happen. As jdavis notes below, accounting and book keeping employ more women than men. Computer programming was once seen as a preferred career for women in the very early days. I suspect that there's a common thread here, which is mediated by culture and social factors. One which is not nefarious, and one which would be useful to figure out.