I wrote this as a response to hecklers who were miffed when I assumed a male perspective when talking about software developers. There are those who think this is sexist, and alienates the women in the field.

I've honestly met... very few female software developers. They're like unicorns. I guess they must all be employed by larger companies wanting to meet diversity quotas.

Joanna Rutkowska comes to mind. Her work is impressive. Also, Tanja Lange. Oh, and Wang Xiaoyun. But these are all scientists/researchers, which is a related, but different field.

The number of women I see in software engineering is comparable to the number in physical construction work, or logging. Over the past several years that I've been looking, I haven't had a single woman apply as a software developer for work at our small company.

Why one would insist on being recognized as a 50% participant when one is actually a 5% participant, is beyond me. I welcome women in software, but they should move their butts and get into software, then get recognition. Don't expect recognition when you aren't even there in any appreciable quantity.

This is not how I would prefer it to be. It's not by my choice that women flock to social studies, and trust me that male engineering students don't enjoy this tendency. Sexism might be a consequence of this gender discrepancy, but it is not its cause. The cause is a biological difference in spatial visualization ability, which can be bridged with special training for girls in school, but no one bothers to do so.