The Real Bias

I once asked someone, a girl I was failing to flirt with, to name the nerdiest major offered at Brigham Young University.  Without much difficulty she responded "Computer Science."  It was a good joke to then inform her that that I was enrolled in the nerdiest major on campus.  Needless to say she never went on a date with me.  This story may be simple, but it does bring up a good point:  Computer Science has a reputation of being interesting mostly to nerdy male students.  This reputation is what drives many people away from majoring in Computer Science. Occasionally stories appear that accuse technical majors of encouraging some kind of gender bias which drives women away.  I claim to the contrary that the departments have no gender bias, but that the individuals themselves are the ones who have the bias.  Male and female students alike will usually avoid a major that has what some perceive as a negative connotation unless they are truly interested in that subject.  The departments aren't doing anything to discourage women, in fact we even have a t-shirt specifically for female Computer Science students.  The discouragement is created from bias that other students have of nerdy majors.