There's an embarrassing amount of douchebaggery, for sure. But I'm not convinced that the reason women are misrepresented in programming is as simple as stopping a few assholes from putting slides with misogynist garbage on them at conferences, etc. If only it were so simple. I think it is rooted in deeper problems that expand well beyond the realms of our little bubble of software engineering. The same could be said of many fields that men are largely absent from as well by way of self-exclusion.
To be clear I support the Hacker School/Etsy program completely but took issue with the fact that the parent claimed that it's completely obvious that the reason women have a small presence in software engineering is because of discrimination by a minority of people in our field. I think a lot more women than men simply end up not having an interest in the field due to larger societal issues with gender roles and the way we raise our children and the paths put in front of them, and this is a problem worth solving and programs like this help break those assumptions down. The fact that there are dumbasses who think because there aren't many women in the room they can act like children is a symptom that happens way late in the game. The assholes will evaporate once the deeper problems are solved.
