I have come to appreciate the unique perspective each of us brings to the job. By "perspective" I am going beyond technical skills and programming acumen. It is that intangible quality that determines our design decisions, the thought process that directs our problem-solving strategy, that dictates how we communicate with our team.
I feel that unique secret sauce that makes us who we are is involuntarily seeded by our gender. To get a full breadth of capabilities I think it best if projects have both men and women. The most successful projects in which I have been involved included a mix of men and women. I don't think it is simply a coincidence. I know that it is a key reason for the project's success. It is therefore regrettable that there aren't more women in our line of work.
I came across a thought-provoking blog post by Ted Neward on this very subject. In case you aren't familiar with Ted, he is an outstanding technologist. I got to know Ted back when I used to speak on the NoFluffJustStuff tour. The thing about Ted is that not only does he have impeccable technical credentials (Java, .net, Android, etc etc) he is not shy to share his opinion. His presentations are quite an experience -- just be prepared for a side-bar or two on unrelated topics :-)
Here's hoping more women join the IT workforce.
