"Most women don't make professional decisions hoping to increase their chances of havin' a cutie in the next cubicle."
Not consciously, anyway. And it doesn't have anything to do with "havin' a cutie," it's more to avoid going into fields with a social stigma associated with them and their typical practitioners.
This social stigma is decreasing (even in IT -- "geek" is no longer an insult), but nevertheless it is still there.
For whatever reason, women seem to be more influenced by social cues -- or perhaps just influenced differently than men. It's not wrong -- it just is. Therefore, my guess is that a lot of the gender disparity is still extant for social stigma reasons and the concomitant avoidance of that stigma.
I think the social stigma argument is oversimplified. Nerds often just trade the standard status hierarchy for another, governed by more nerdly pursuits. Yet positive nerd social spaces and stereotypes for boys are much more accessible than those for girls.
Not consciously, anyway. And it doesn't have anything to do with "havin' a cutie," it's more to avoid going into fields with a social stigma associated with them and their typical practitioners.
This social stigma is decreasing (even in IT -- "geek" is no longer an insult), but nevertheless it is still there.
For whatever reason, women seem to be more influenced by social cues -- or perhaps just influenced differently than men. It's not wrong -- it just is. Therefore, my guess is that a lot of the gender disparity is still extant for social stigma reasons and the concomitant avoidance of that stigma.