I think "few social structures...that prevent women from doing [programming]" is the assumption you make that most people on the other side of the issue would d

I think "few social structures...that prevent women from doing [programming]" is the assumption you make that most people on the other side of the issue would disagree with. The example you provide, men in nursing, is a poor one for your case, as men historically shied away from nursing because it was socially associated with femininity, not because of genetic predisposition. Through concerted efforts over the last fifteen years, the proportion of men in nursing has sharply increased. So the story of men in nursing is parallel to the claim you dismiss, that women are turned away from programming by its association with "masculinity" and that a concerted effort could increase the proportion of women in the field. I do not know whether there is a genetic element to the skewed distribution of vocations, and I am actually inclined to agree with you that their probably is. However, we cannot simply look at the present distribution and assume it is entirely caused by genetics. We do not live in a perfect meritocracy or a society that gives all people equal opportunity and support in following their callings. Other explanations for these gender imbalances are staring us in the face: the poor behavior of many men in the tech world, the subtle implications that girls should not work hard at math, or the teasing directed toward men who study nursing. We should be trying to change these things, not for the abstract goal of having a perfectly equal gender distribution, but for the sake of individual people who are suited to these fields even though they are in the minority gender. I have a male friend who is a nurse and perhaps not suited to be a doctor who, had he been born thirty years earlier, would almost certainly have taken some other job and not lived up to his potential. I don't want that to happen to young women who are in school today and would make great programmers. Perhaps some day we will overcome these social biases so that all people are equally encouraged to do any work they are capable of learning. On that day there may still be skewed distributions of genders in each profession, and we will fairly say that those are caused by evolution and other factors we can't control. But while there are still factors in our control, preventing people from answering their callings? Let's fix them!