Happy Ada Lovelace Day!

[Dave Mason]

I wrote:

> However, I find this thread to be sexist and misogynistic.

The key word there is "I".  It provides a data point.  And apparently I
am not alone.  More data points.

I've been teaching Computer Science at University for 28 years.
Throughout most of that time I have worked actively to promote and
encourage female students, as have many faculty across the continent and
Europe.  Despite those efforts, the number of women in undergraduate
computer science has stuck resolutely between 1 in 5 and 1 in 8 for most
of that time.

I have spoken with scores of women students over that time - the women
who have pushed the envelope to pursue a career in computer science.  I
haven't heard a single one of them identify any of:
   - The idea of naming a day after a CS hero
   - vendor-trained sysadmins having the gall to call themselves "engineers" with the industry's blessing
   - the lack of ethical accountability that is demanded in "real" professions
   - the outrageous misuse of patent protection masquerading as innovation.
(although I personally think the latter 3 of those are reprehensible).

No, every one of them referred to "the fratboy one", or related
stereotypes (individual work, working with machines not people).
So in my mind, that's a pretty plausible reason.

../Dave
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