Why are we so OBSESSED with getting more women into the programming business, and creating an artificial population balance when the natural tendency shows otherwise?

We just need to make sure that there aren't active forces PREVENTING a group of the population from getting into the field.

Providing extra rewards and incentives for minorities to do the same job as the majority is fundamentally discriminatory towards the majority, and at the same time, further promotes gender, racial and other biases towards the minority (which I believe these rewards and incentives intended to diminish in the first place). Thoughts like "oh, she only got this job because she is a woman" will inevitably surface in the minds of other workers, even if they don't say it out loud.

Here is the only solution: drop all rewards that are based on race, gender, or other non-merit based makers. Level the playing field. Make it exactly the same for everyone to ensure a fair assessment of their skills. Then we can have real equality.

I am generally anti-feminist, but I support this.

There is a serious lack of women in the tech industry, and it isn't (as some in the slashdot comments suggest) solvable just by encouraging that companies hire more women. Companies can't hire more women if there simply aren't that many women applying because they don't exist in the field. Encouraging more women to get into the tech industry at a young age is the right approach, IMO.

I don't see how this is anything but discriminatory. If you look at the stats, boys are falling behind in nearly every area, in terms of levels of achievement. Taking away incentives for them in the one area they tend to do well is discrimination, plain and simple.

"I'm concerned that boys have become politically incorrect, that we are a society in the process of turning against its male children." - Christina Hoff Sommers

I personally have been a mentor for a three sets of boys over the last three semesters at Spark (http://sparkprogram.org/) and have seen firsthand the positive experiences boys can have when they learn they can be creators, and not just consumers. To take away that creative spirit from boys is a crime, and I cannot see myself supporting any nonprofit initiative that discriminates in such a manner.

If they don't want to do it, why do we need to encourage them to change their mind?

Because most of them do not think it is an option. They aren't told they can succeed in STEM careers.

I have never heard anyone tell a female that they won't succeed in STEM subjects.

I hear a lot (relatively) about encouraging more women into tech. Why? So they train up and decide they don't like it after a couple of years and quit?

H: Google has a shortage of JS devs and women.

the numbers are still highly disproportionate. you should see the scholarships available for female golf payers...