I read the title of this post and, being stereotypically male, clicked to investigate. However, I was greatly encouraged to find that many/most of the commenters seem to be bra-users, rather than other stereotypical male hackers.

We need more women in engineering, just as we need more diversity of all kinds in all professions. Constraining people of apparent type X to profession Y limits us all. The more variety we have (of background, attitudes, abilities, upbringing) the better we will be able to solve the world's problems. And, the more interesting the world will be.