Your comment amused me a bit, so I wanted to write something in response. I work in metal fabrication, our workshop specialises in structural steel, so we are part of the general construction industry. We call ourselves 'boilermakers', though I've never worked on a boiler.

Anyway, in the 17 years I've been doing this on and off, I have met precisely 1 female boilermaker. And nobody cares.

What I don't follow is why is gender imbalance in other industries seen as a problem but we never see any serious attempt to get more women in to the construction industry.

Why does anyone care there are differences in numbers of men and women in various industries? Things change over time, fashions change. I think approaching these issues from the "we must correct this imbalance" is incorrect reasoning.

And, lastly, if we do manage to level the playing field, what will gender identity become?

A quote form the film Trainspotting: One thousand years from now, there will be no guys and no girls, just wankers.

I'm willing to posit that strong gender roll identity is crucial for a healthy and resilient culture.

There aren't a lot of females in waste management either (i.e., garbage men). I've heard it can be a pretty well-paying job too. No one says that we need more women waste management workers, truck drivers, or coal miners.

I think it's mostly because if half of 'boiler makers' would start doing something else not many would care, but if half of the programmers would go work in nail saloons instead we'd be in much trouble.

Software is eating the world, there's so much work to do, and a thought that anyone that could be a programmer isn't for some silly reason, is very unpleasent.