The Gender Gap

There's an article in today's Michigan Daily about the gender disparity in computer science -- the most male-dominated undergraduate major at the university with an 8-to-1 ratio. (I think the numbers for the graduate program fare a little better, but my perception might be skewed because there are three women in my office, a complete abnormality for the building.) The article covers your standard stuff -- one of the 21 women who do major in CS giving the typical, "At first things were intimidating but I got over it," response that such women usually give and one of the men talking about how strange it is to come in contact with a female. (His exact quote is "Maybe we are afraid of them.")

But then came the quote that made the article different from every other gender-in-the-sciences article I have read. When asked about the disparity, Randall Brown, a sophomore, responded:

"Computer science is mostly male because after guys are done looking at porn, we're too lazy to leave the computer, so we find other stuff to do."

I invite any male computer scientists to confirm or deny this statement by leaving a comment (anonymously if you'd like). And if men in other fields were drawn to their profession through porn... well, I really don't want to know about it.