> The author gives the impression that women were well represented in the beginning, but were pushed out. We can look at photos of programming teams in industry

> The author gives the impression that women were well represented in the beginning, but were pushed out. We can look at photos of programming teams in industry, going back as far as you like, even to the 50s, to demonstrate that that's a fantasy. You would typically see one or two women and fifteen men. It also gives the impression that "computer programmer" was a good job. It wasn't, by and large. There were a bunch of "keypunch operators" that were mostly women because of typewriter training. They were directed by a much smaller number of men who were the "programmers". There really wasn't any advancement for the women--it was just a slightly better secretarial job. As for the men, it required a 4 year degree (and associated monetary outlay for college) back when working in the steel mill or the automobile line paid really well. Men only flocked into CS/computer programming once the mill jobs got destroyed.