The U.S. is doing OK With Gender and Tech

Argument:  In the United States gender disparities in information and communication technologies are not a major issue, and, in general, women enjoy access to the benefits of ICT's as much as men.

Evidence in Support:

• More women use social networking than men:  according to a 2011 Pew Internet report 69% of women use social networking sites compared to 60% of men. 

• As early as 2001, women engage in the same variety of online activities as men according to a Pew survey.

• More women earn associate's, bachelor's, master's and doctors degrees than men according to the most recent statistics from the National Center for Education Statistics.

Evidence Against:

• Women are underrepresented in Science and Engineering degrees conferred according to recent NCES data.

• Women are underrepresented in STEM jobs according to a report of the Economics & Statistics Administration.

Balanced Discussion:

It seems that women in America are every bit the users that men are.  Women are free to participate fully in the web and all it has to offer.  However, despite women's usage of ICT's, women don't pursue technology-focused careers.  In a sense, women are technology users, not creators.  In the United States we don't have a problem with discouraging women to use technology, but it does seem that women are discouraged (or at least not encouraged from entering STEM careers.

So our problem in this country is not striving to make sure women have access to technology (they already do according to the statistics), but to assure them that they are perfectly capable in technology fields and as technology creators.  If we do that, in time, the disparity will disappear.  Until then though, we also must recognize the validity of women in whatever field they choose and not see women in non-STEM fields as a failure.