A common thread through the previous chapters is that, for the most part, people are not consciously trying to discourage women from science and engineering. Instead, people's behavior is often subconsciously influenced by stereotypes that they may not even realize they have. Additionally, when companies direct technical games and products to men, their intent is not to perpetuate stereotypes but to target the largest existing audience. That some women feel uncomfortable in mostly male environments is not primarily a result of men's trying to make them feel unwelcome but of dynamics resulting directly from the male majority and societal sex-based differences in behavior. While perhaps it is comforting to know that no conspiracy exists against female computer scientists, it also means that the problem is harder to fight. The negative influences described in this report are so varied and decentralized that there is no simple way to level the playing field.
One positive factor is that women and other underrepresented groups are becoming a crucial resource pool. The number of white males of college age is decreasing, while the need for engineers and scientists is increasing [Leveson 1989, page 7,]. I have been told this is causing even the most conservative businessmen to begin aggressively targeting women and minorities as highly-trained technical workers.
Another reason for optimism is seeing how greatly the situation has changed. Although discrimination against women continues, it is nothing compared to the level earlier this century or in the previous one, as some of the quotations at the beginning of chapters have indicated. Unfortunately, there has been retrograde motion before: In the 1920s, feminist activity reduced sexual discrimination at prestigious universities, but ``this trend toward equity was reversed in the 1930s and not resumed until the 1960s'' [Simeone 1987, page xi,].