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It’s a popular view these days that there is no real obstacle to girls studying and pursuing careers in science and technology fields in such enlightened times as these. Some say that the continued lower percentage of women as compared to men in these fields are because they simply choose not to enter them, even going so far as to say that these choices reflect a fundamental difference in the genetic makeup of men and women.

If these choices were made in a vacuum, I’d have more sympathy for this point of view. The reality of our society is that this is often not a truly free choice at all when girls are conditioned to believe they are not suited for math and science from an early age. I’ve had this on my mind lately, since a conversation at work highlighted to me that some of my colleagues believe differently.
When I was growing up, my mother would supply me with the toys I seemed to be most interested in. The teenage mutant ninja turtle action figures were from her, and the Commodore 64 computer that opened up entire new worlds to me.

My father on the other hand had often told me that I wasn’t very good at math and science. Because I believed this, I simply never tried. I chose subjects I thought I was good at and I had this message reinforced to me many times over my childhood, by numerous adults. The underlying premise was that most girls just weren’t technical, the same way that most boys just didn’t have the patience and compassion for nursing. Girls and boys are just wired differently.

It took me a long time to discover that these people were wrong.

Not much has changed. Some rare parents manage to raise children entirely devoid of the idea of traditional gender roles. E. is one such, for which I am profoundly grateful. Some however, fall into perpetuating these damaging stereotypes.

With Christmas drawing near, the marketing of children’s toys only serves to highlight this issue further. Toys for girls in all the glossy catalogues advertise Barbie, ponies, art and craft sets and makeup kits. A lot of little girls would love this, certainly - but why are the engineering-minded Lego technics, the metal detectors, the electronics kits listed as toys for boys?

In the catalogue of a major site dedicated to science kits and educational toys it’s even worse. The top ten gifts for boys include robot kits, electronics kits, chemistry sets, and a wide range of other fascinating toys designed to spark an interest in science and technology. Girls on the other hand, get to choose from a perfume lab kit, a jewellery making set, and a kit for making cosmetics. “Learn how to care for your skin, hair, and nails so they are healthy and radiant!”

I’m glad I overcame my conditioning. I’m now working in IT, the only woman in my team. I’m also a long term contributor to a large open source project, another area in which there are few women. I wonder though, how many other women would have chosen to be here with me if the choice was truly theirs to make.

I may have overcome my conditioning, but my father never did. When I told him I was planning on getting into IT he was surprised enough to laugh.

“Oh honey, don’t you know you need to be smart for that?”

Yeah. You might be surprised Dad, but actually, I do.