This comment says everything better than I could say it.<p>Programming is a solitary activity where you solve logic puzzles.  Anyone can do it.  Another activity that is very similar is playing chess - yet no one is up in arms that chess schools aren&#x27;t including 50% girls in elite chess training.<p>If you took a group of girls and a group of boys and put them in a room where they played chess for a few hours, then asked them how much they enjoyed it... more boys would rate the activity higher.  Is it because some stupid poster on the wall??? No it&#x27;s not.  On average, men and women are different and have different average preferences.<p>Programming is not an activity where you need social support groups to succeed.  It&#x27;s the one activity where being a hermit who takes initiative and learns everything themselves can be an advantage over being more social.  A large portion of programmers are self-taught online, and just start tinkering with things because they enjoy the activity.  You can&#x27;t force that.