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Seems the number of women entering CS is dwindling.

���The nerd factor is huge,��� Dr. Cuny said. According to a 2005 report by the National Center for Women and Information Technology, an academic-industry collaborative formed to address the issue, when high school girls think of computer scientists they think of geeks, pocket protectors, isolated cubicles and a lifetime of staring into a screen writing computer code.

And what of it? It���s true.

Here���s the real problem:

The Advanced Placement high school course in computer science may be part of the problem, according to Dr. Cuny. ���The AP computer course is a disaster,��� she said. ���It teaches Java programming, which is very appealing to a lot of people, but not to others. It doesn���t teach what you can do with computers.���

Quite the understatement. With them teaching Java, I���m surprised anyone continues on to pursue Comp Sci.

More seriously, there���s a disturbing comment at the end of the article:

Others worry that the field cannot grow to its potential if it lacks women���s perspective. ���Does it matter that women���s outlook is missing? I think it does,��� Dr. Cuny said. ���Technology is pervasive in society, and its impact is only going to increase. Shouldn���t everyone have a voice in shaping the technology?���

First, regarding that last statement: No. Not everyone should have a voice in shaping technology. People who actually know something should have a voice. Membership in one or another sex is not a useful criteria.

Second, if you���re going to talk about ���women���s perspective��� and ���women���s outlook���, then don���t be surprised when people tell you that men and women think differently and use that to justify exclusion. It���s a tricky thing to claim that some group is different, but only different in ways that brings value, and not different in some way that���s a liability, especially if you���re suggesting that mere difference is in itself a value.