I think he's correct that the problem lies way upstream from the current gender imbalance of qualified candidates. AKA the US (can't speak for elsewhere) school system is fucked.
Imagine a world where computer literacy was taught to girls and boys from grade 1. Where instead of funneling the vast majority of children into football, volleyball and cheerleading we actually spent those resources and time helping them learn a skill that would help them become useful members of society.
I think what's been lost in this argument as of late is that yes, girls aren't encouraged to code, but neither are boys! It was never cool to code. Popular boys and girls (sports related usually) would physically and verbally abuse you for being too into computers from about middle school on up.
For some reason, boys seem more resistant to this abuse and will struggle through it for the love of computers. It shouldn't be that big of a challenge to pick up useful skills but we need to restructure what our society values.
Imagine a world where computer literacy was taught to girls and boys from grade 1. Where instead of funneling the vast majority of children into football, volleyball and cheerleading we actually spent those resources and time helping them learn a skill that would help them become useful members of society.
I think what's been lost in this argument as of late is that yes, girls aren't encouraged to code, but neither are boys! It was never cool to code. Popular boys and girls (sports related usually) would physically and verbally abuse you for being too into computers from about middle school on up.
For some reason, boys seem more resistant to this abuse and will struggle through it for the love of computers. It shouldn't be that big of a challenge to pick up useful skills but we need to restructure what our society values.