As such, I don't believe your statement that women mining coal was a priority for women when mining coal was an up and coming industry. Coal mining has always been a low status and dangerous job, and as such its been exclusively a male profession.
A similar situation currently exist with under water welding. It is one of the highest paying jobs there is, but its below average in social status and has a very risky environment. As one of the most lucrative area, you would think there would be a push by gender equality advocates, but no. The focus is only to get more women in jobs which has high social status, rather than to create change in current gender culture.
Is software low- or high-status work?
I did find people who has done a similar study, like http://www.sverigesingenjorer.se/Global/Dokumentbibliotek/Ra... page 18.
As for software development, there has been quite a few movies so far about CEO's of large software companies. I don't think there is that many other professions that get hero worshiping like that, except for doctors.
At which point you're seen as only caring about equality when it disadvantages women, which isn't how equality works.
It's just as important that we have a gender balance in coal miners (and nurses and teachers and prison inmates) as it is for software developers.
Or maybe we should stop preoccupying ourselves with this equality of outcome nonsense because in a free market people are allowed to choose their own career paths.
This issue strikes a chord with me because I spent years programming while others called me a nerd. Now that my skills are useful people claim I must be doing well because of my sex and skin color.
What's the evidence for this claim? I think tech is fun, pays for a good standard of living, and is a solid career choice for any person entering the job market. However, according to the bureau of labor and statistics, you're still better off going into a host of fields like medicine, dentistry, airline pilots, law, and finance.