Why more women need to study Computer Science

I work in the Software industry. An industry that is plagued by female disinterest. For some reason or another women are just not attracted to this industry and that needs to change.

If you take a look at ANY piece of software written in history. You'll discover how hostile to women it is. The whole environment feels like a Male's fun day in the garage.

For men, the only thing that's missing from software are, sports, a remote control and and an automatic beer dispenser. This industry is alarmingly dominated by men.

Sure the long hours and the stressful work environments with a bunch of geeks might not appeal to the majority of the female audience but so is the case in everything nowadays.

Software like any other industry needs to benefit from diversity. The value that a different fresh perspective adds to make a great product. When 50% of your society is using products designed by the other 50% you end up with something that doesn't meet the needs for everyone.

Not only that, you end up with a monotonous stagnant set of rules and guidelines that people live and interact by.

Look at all operating systems out there. From Unix to windows from Mac to Linux, everything is designed by a male majority to cater for everyone. The result. This monstrosity we see on our screens everyday. A graphical user interface that is seriously in need for revamping, an underlying system of support tools that benefit the geeks of the wold. Sure I love that scientific calculator, but what good does it do to women? Children? Mom's and pops using the PC?

Even online services are suffering from the same symptoms. Search engines come up on our browser screens everyday with what we've grown to expect. A little box that you input your search strings based on algorithms and ranking that has no clue about the concept or the person using it. Most probably targeting the Male audience

I would classify this issue as a matter of accessibility, Almost all industries are doing better than the Software/hardware/IT industries when it comes to catering for diversity. Cars for example have evolved to cater for roles that are filled by women. The result, better cars for everyone and neat new features that MEN would have never thought of. Or implemented.

Women need to take this challenge and focus on addressing it. Operating systems need to contain additions and features that appeal and solve the female needs. When was the last time you saw an OS that ships with a Period calculator? Not to pick on a subject but some women might find that quite an essential tool. I'm just stating this as an example without meaning any disrespect. Maybe women who are planning to get pregnant need to get a reminder in mail that they're ovulating or something. Mother's who are expecting a little gadget that calculates their baby progress and gives them estimates on their due date and what not. Maybe a dietary calender, or a meal suggester for their kids. Who knows there are many things in this fields that can be added. PC's in general need to be more hospitable to women. Maybe come up with keyboards that understands that some people have longer nails than others! Or they type softly. Or anything and everything that women do differently

Yes, I know all my examples were kind of menstrual or maternal issues but see THIS IS EXACTLY the point. I as a male CAN NOT comprehend all women needs. A female would do a 100 times better than me regardless if she had a PhD or not

I think this is a great opportunity to encourage young ladies to consider life careers in this industry and help make a change. Now is the time. A female friendly operating system is not the one that has nice cute pink themes. But rather an OS that provides essential functionality that everyone might need.