Job security? If she has a job she’ll want to keep it rather than end up in a job market that can hardly imagine technically savvy women. The industry expends a lot of effort in trying to convince one another that women just aren’t technical, so when an applicant shows up female to a job interview, she’s off on the wrong foot to start with. Hiring managers can’t ask a women’s family plans any more, but they can certainly guess at the demographic likelihood of an applicant needing family leave and decide that she’s “not quite what we’re looking for.” Who wouldn’t want job security if they faced that? And ease of entry? No matter how much a woman enjoys the work, she has to get through the door first.

Once the basics are in place – a woman has a tech job that doesn’t drag her away from her family – and she works with people who can accept and collaborate with her, then she’s free to love technical work. I do and know a lot of other women who do. But first things first.