Women, mathematics and computer science

"... women embrace the "precision" of mathematics." a quote from panelist Paul De Palma's viewpoint article "Why Women Avoid Computer Science" in the June 2001 CACM. Panelist Kim Kihlstrom notes "... I got into electrical engineering and then computer science exactly because I love math." Henderson's evidence indicates that women performed better than men in a mathematically oriented first course in computer science, and women felt the course was more beneficial than a traditional programming oriented first course. Regarding a mathematically oriented functional programming course for high schools Kathi Fisler says "Our high school teachers have noticed females preferring this to a conventional curriculum by as much as 5 to 1 !" Coincidence, or is there a common thread here? Please join us for the discussion and share your own viewpoints.