Ok I'll bite. I think the issue should focus on remedying the culture, regardless of whether boys dominate the ends. I will gently mention that boys are 5x as l

Ok I'll bite. I think the issue should focus on remedying the culture, regardless of whether boys dominate the ends. I will gently mention that boys are 5x as likely to have autism or lie within an autistic spectrum disorder loosely characterized by poor socialization skills and obsessive, repetitive behavior. They're (we're) also wired on testosterone which has different effects on the brain. I'm not saying that proves anything, but there's no point denying at the very least statistically observed tendencies in neurodevelopment. Separately, people tenured in STEM positions score well, but they don't have the best grades or IQs. They are often there because they knew the right people, can argue for grants (ie their own relevance and skills), and work their asses off writing papers. I wish they were the smartest, but more often I've encountered narcissists who try to put their names on everything because it's the only way toward promotion (don't blame the player, blame the game). When it comes to women, many grew up being told that if they do poorly in math/science it's ok because they're girls - this is AWFUL both immediately and downstream. Girls become more likely to blame bad performance on their sex and give up whereas guys blame bad performance as a fluke. In STEM fields, you encounter failure ALL the time, it sucks and you feel like a complete idiot. You just have to fight through it, and you're more likely to continue to fight if you aren't told you failed because of your sex. It's obviously a much more complicated issue than what I laid out. It's a very tricky area riddled with people too easily offended or who capitalize on misquotes for political gain. Like I said, whether or not trends are biological or environmental, people should be told to pursue their dreams (it's not like I would tell some white kid playing basketball that he shouldn't dream of going pro because he's not as well represented or if he fails it's because he's white). Yes, that's a false equivalency, but demonstrates societal expectations from seemingly biological premises. For context I'll add that I'm a guy who majored in engineering at a state school while my girlfriend graduated top 5 in her class at princeton in chemistry - we get into debates about this stuff all the time. I'm SO SORRY for using this as forum to rant. Please forgive me HN.