This. So much this. This comic should be required reading: http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1883#comic http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db

This. So much this. This comic should be required reading: http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1883#comic http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1883#comic The presence of trans people backs this up: MtFs are overrepresented in tech, and the ratio of MtFs to FtMs in tech is about the same as the ratio of cis men to cis women in tech (I am MtF myself, and it's a running "joke" in the trans community that trans girls are all programmers). If you have the tech skills and the drive to work in the industry, you'll do fine here regardless of whether you're male or female. It's just that if you spent your childhood and teenage years being perceived as a girl, then you're supremely unlikely to even be an applicant to a tech position. At that point, there's nothing the tech industry can do to change anything. Also, one thing I've observed is that if you're a nerd, non-nerdy boys are more likely to say "whatever floats your boat", and non-nerdy girls are more likely to say "eww, gross!". Peer pressure is the worst kind of pressure.