Fewer girls than ever before are tackling computer science. The percentage of female college freshman who listed computer science as a probable major dropped to 0.3 percent in 2007 from 4.2 percent in 1982; likewise, the number of undergrad computer science degrees was down 6 percent between 2002 and 2005 to only 22 percent.

The downward trend in female computer scientists is somewhat of an anomaly -- in the context of all science and engineering fields, the percentage of female bachelor's degree recipients had increased to 51 percent by 2005 compared to 29 percent in 1985.

One explanation for the decline is that 25 years ago, women felt more comfortable entering the field because the male-dominated subculture of gaming didn't exist yet. Justine Cassell, director of Northwestern University's Center for Technology & Social Behavior, argues that efforts to create computer games that would appeal to girls, "failed to dislodge the sense among both boys and girls that computers were 'boys' toys' and that true girls didn't play with computers." (BTW, some numbers say that 40% of video gamers are female, so digital dudeness may be more perception than reality.)

Computer science expert Ellen Spertus looked at the cultural biases that discourage women from pursuing careers in the field thinks that "Women choosing not to go into computer science is fine," as long as, "there aren't artificial barriers keeping them out."

Maybe she's right, after all between 1966 and 2004, the percentage of science and engineering degrees awarded to women grew 25 percent to just over 50 percent, and women earn more than 60 percent of degrees in the biological sciences. Half of the degrees in chemistry, and almost half of the degrees in mathematics are awarded to women. If that's the case, is decrease in a sub-field like computer science necessarily a negative thing?