On my way to work this morning I was listening to NPR, as I usually do, and heard a segment on the declining numbers of female students entering the computer science major.

I'm sure they are correct in their observation that the numbers are indeed declining, I'm not going to argue that. I am however finding myself disagreeing with their reasoning behind this decline.

One thing in particular that I felt was an erronous conclusion.. the amount of time young boys spend playing video games as opposed to young girls.

I do agree that most video games are geared towards boys, I don't agree that this has anything to do with the probability of a child's future interest in computer science.

Much is talked about how encouragement in the young age leads a child to pick a particular field in the future. I'm sure there is truth in that, I'm not sure this is actually a good thing... I was not encouraged to be an engineer -- it's not a feminine field and my mom is a classic 'old world' mother.. The future occupation she had in mind for me was something a lot more mainstream -- journalism. I am my own example of when encouragement into a certain field doesn't always work.. and if it did I'm pretty certain I would be very unhappy in the profession my mom felt was best for me.

That's one example.. another is a friend of mine who has an MBA. He was strongly encouraged by his parents to go that path.. and in his early 30s decided to go back to school and study what he really wanted.. as working in his profession made him very unhappy.

I suppose what I am trying to say.. if a girl wants to become a programmer... she will.. encouragement or lack thereof has little to do with anything. What children should be taught is to be true to themselves and do what they really enjoy.. not what their parents think is best for them.

Parents don't always read their children's interests objectively.. and sometimes hang on to them for too long.

Yes, there is a decline of women studying computer science, no, I don't think this is something to be concerned about. It will naturally right itself as new generations choose the fields they really desire, not the ones society deems acceptable for their gender role.