shrug... you've named a bunch of things that have to do with the tech industry. The whole point I was trying to make is that women are deciding to stay away from engineering before being exposed to any of that.
A 17 year old who decides she's not going to take cs101 hasn't been treated poorly by awkward coworkers for years. she hasn't had trouble getting hired because of gender bias. She hasn't been disparaged in front of her tech peers.
And yet she still decides to not go into CS. I still maintain that whatever brought about that decision (maybe gender roles from an early age or being put off by awkward teenage nerds... whatever) really has nothing to do with the tech industry. Today's tech industry is a result of that bias not the cause of it.
"The whole point I was trying to make is that women are deciding to stay away from engineering before being exposed to any of that."
Yeah, I know. I see what you're saying, and I agree that the roots of the problem start young -- but I contend that even little girls are sophisticated enough to know that a particular subject is dominated by the least-social 5% of their peers. I'm sure there are tons of other factors, too.
That said, when I have so many real-life examples of girls who enter the field later in life, then get treated badly and leave, I know that it makes a difference. When only 10% of your incoming classes are women, it doesn't take much bad behavior to ensure that the number of women in the industry never grows.
It is not that surprising though. When you are part of a 50-50 group or a group where you are part of the majority, then you can hide in that group. If you are part of a 1-10 group, then you really won't be able to hide in the group.
Or in other words, it is a bad feedback loop that ends up perpetuating status quo.
It's a bit facile to limit "the tech industry" in this way, observing that girls acquire their anti-tech biases while in school and therefore letting "the tech industry" off the hook. Your hypothetical 17-year-old may not have had problems with "awkward coworkers" or "getting hired", but you can bet that she's been influenced by the culture surrounding technology, as have her male peers, at least some of whom have almost certainly belittled her technical skills as a result. And she very likely has been "disparaged in front of her tech peers".
You neglect the way that boys are given toys and video games that facilitate their interests in technical and scientific fields. You neglect the clear precedence and majority of boys who are studying CS. You neglect the clear lack of female role models in the industry. All of these things are strikes against making the hypothetical 17 year old choose this field. These factors alone make the playing field not level, let alone the numerous other social factors that a young girl encounters.
A 17 year old who decides she's not going to take cs101 hasn't been treated poorly by awkward coworkers for years. she hasn't had trouble getting hired because of gender bias. She hasn't been disparaged in front of her tech peers.
And yet she still decides to not go into CS. I still maintain that whatever brought about that decision (maybe gender roles from an early age or being put off by awkward teenage nerds... whatever) really has nothing to do with the tech industry. Today's tech industry is a result of that bias not the cause of it.