The stereotype of the socially-awkward, white, male programmer has been around
for a long time. Although "diversity in tech" is a much discussed topic, the
numbers have not been getting any better. On the contrary, a lot of people inside
and outside of the IT industry still take it for granted that this stereotype is
the natural norm, and this perception is one of the things that is standing in our
way to make the profession more inclusive and inviting. So where does this image
come from? Did the demographics of the world's programmer population really evolve
naturally, because "boys just like computers more"? What shaped our perception of
programmers? Birgitta Böckeler digs
into some possible explanations.