Women in Software – a Long Way to Go

Percentage of female Open Source developers:
3.0%: http://weblogs.java.net/blog/2008/02/24/fosdem-2008
1.5%: http://www.artima.com/forums/flat.jsp?forum=106&thread=263671
This low percentage isn’t due to fear of computers:
Percentage of women who use computers at work: 57%
and at home: 70%
http://37signals.com/svn/archives2/software_for_women.php
It also isn’t due to overall cultural norms. Here are the percentages of women in traditionally male-dominated professions in the USA:
Women in construction: 4%
http://www.allbusiness.com/population-demographics/demographic-groups/12375848-1.html
Women firefighters: 4% (2002)
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6537201.html
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20080518/NEWS01/81118071/Female-firefighters-rare–but-valued-on-crews
Women police officers: 12.6%
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/mcb/181/2009/00000032/00000001/art00004
Seems like software development wins the booby prize for worst male chauvinist piggery, excuse me, gender discrimination, in the workplace.