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experts consulted and diverging opinions about thereasons why women decide not to undertake technologicalstudies. All experts agree on the need formore research and to delve deeper into the issue tofind the important influencing factors and developmore successful solutions and approaches. Someof the factors being debated have to do with thenatural tendency of people to become interested incertain issues, or with the idea that women are oftenmore practical and “realistic” in nature, or havegreater empathy or an inclination for social interestsand relationships with people.While these inclinations clearly depend not ongender, but on the characteristics and nature ofeach individual, in general it is observed that thereare issues that are of more interest to women whileothers have little or no appeal. Unfortunately technologicaltopics apparently do not appeal to manywomen. Some women technologists believe thatthis is reinforced by society. The lack of real examplesof women working and being successful in thetechnological field does not improve the situation.Moreover, the eminently more practical andpragmatic nature of women makes them inclinedto choose studies that they feel confident aboutcompleting – in this respect they tend to avoidunnecessary risks when choosing. Women tendto choose studies that have a clearly definedfuture employment path, where employment opportunitiesare broader, more established or moreabundant. This leads them towards establishedand classical studies, where the path of learningand working is better defined and where years andyears of experience and examples create role modelsthat they can emulate. In the case of computerscience studies, the fact that this science is evolvingso fast means that it requires a lot of effort to keepup to date and sustain a leading position. The constantlearning process required means that womensometimes feel that it will not be easy to reconcilethis with their personal and other interests. This isoften combined with the idea that women generallyhave greater empathy and better skills in fieldssuch as the social sciences.These choices and perceptions reinforce genderimbalances when it comes to technology.Probably unconsciously, men shape and developtechnologies according to their vision of the world,according to their character, their interests andtheir strengths, regardless of other views, otherinterests or other ways of thinking. This creates asubtle gender discrimination. Men are not necessarilyto blame, because imbalances in the oppositedirection occur in other sectors (think of the healthsector and children’s education). But what makesdealing with the imbalance in technology more relevantis the fact that technologies are increasinglyan intrinsic part of our lives. Such an influential partof the world around us cannot be left in the hands ofonly a portion of the population.While it is not an easy task to address genderimbalances, it is made more difficult because forvarious reasons the reputation of computer scienceis not very good. Among technological studies,computer sciences are rather discredited and havehad a bad reputation for having a too “extreme andunusual” air about them. Computer scientists areoften regarded as being antisocial, nerdy, or toocompetitive. All these features usually do not attractthe female gender. Moreover, despite being ascience that spans many fields and sectors of oursociety and our lives, there is a common belief thatthe field of computer sciences is something thateveryone knows, or thinks he or she knows. Thisfact counts against it when assessing it as a possiblearea for study, because future opportunities andpotential career paths are not clearly visible.Given this scenario, it is not an easy task toraise interest among women for computer studies.There are, however, a few women who are studyingor have studied computer sciences. And as adistinguishing and revealing feature, the academicresults from women in these studies show that,although few, they are among the students who excelin the sciences and computer studies. They aregood students, hard workers, consistent and persistentand often get very good results.UPC statistics 2 show that in the 2010-2011academic year, the number of women enrolled inundergraduate computer courses was 40 versus369 men (9.78% women versus 90.2% men) and in2011-2012 the disparity was even worse, with only5.8% of computer science students being women.However, the percentage of women who finish theirstudies often exceeds that of men. The statistics aremuch better with regards to second-cycle studies(equivalent to Master’s degrees), where the numberof women increased to 17% (2010-2011). At UPC,computer science studies account for the most extremeimbalance between men and women, whilefor all technological studies the gender imbalanceexists, but is not so acute. In other studies womenrepresent 12% to 15% of students enrolled in undergraduatecourses such as telecommunicationsengineering or electronic systems engineering,2 Statistical data provided by UPC for academic years 2010-2011 and2011-2012.212 / Global Information Society Watch