what is more interesting to discuss is why the same fervour is not given to other jobs where an imbalance in gender exists (for example, registered nurses).
There's also more male electricians than female ones.
I feel that if females who would have made good engineers are turned away by discrimination or harassment, there's a good opportunity for a company to find hidden gems of an employee for lower cost than the equivalent male by making sure she is treated well. Then natural competition should balance out the cost difference over time.
negligible.
It's actually very simple.
Programmers are big money makers for companies, specially good programmers. Programmers are mostly male, that means there is almost 50% of the population that s not even considering that career.
How much easier will it be to hire new programmers if the hiring pool would almost double?
There is no such problem in other areas.
Not other "mostly male" or "mostly female" career is as effective for generating money for employers or is so hard to get good employees.
There's also more male electricians than female ones.
I feel that if females who would have made good engineers are turned away by discrimination or harassment, there's a good opportunity for a company to find hidden gems of an employee for lower cost than the equivalent male by making sure she is treated well. Then natural competition should balance out the cost difference over time.