>>2
I guess what I'm trying to say is that the equal rights movement, whether you're talking about gender, race, whatever, isn't supposed to be about having every category equally represented in everything. It's about nobody caring whether you're male or female, black or white, gay or straight.
It shouldn't matter to your professor that most of his colleagues are male or female. Just like his superiors shouldn't care if someone they hire is male or female. He needs to see beyond their gender to their qualifications, abilities, and experiences. Otherwise, he's a hypocrite.
If one sector is under-represented by females simply because they don't want the position, it doesn't matter. It only matters if they are being PREVENTED from filling those positions due their gender.
Like I said, IT has a low female population (though it is growing pretty rapidly). That's understandable. For the longest time, it was the realm of the geeks, which were also predominately male. But now science and technology are fashionable again, not to mention it's become a major part of our lives, so it makes sense that it would balance out a bit.
Similarly, I'm sure something like steel workers or lumberjacks are largely skewed to the male side. That makes sense, seeing as men tend to be stronger. Likewise, military pilots and such tend to be mostly female, since their bodies are better suited to the G forces and such. But a strong woman wouldn't be turned away from a steel mill and a man who can take Gs well wouldn't be turned away from pilot school, IF they can both perform as well as their peers, so it isn't a big deal.
Sorry for the rant, there.