@Sheril I’m all for equal opportunity. But the idea that every profession should be 50% male and 50% female ignores the simple fact that women and men are biologically different.

@MWilson @Sheril That comment is irrelevant #simplefact

By your argument perhaps we could justify only brown eyed people can do maths and blue eyes people do physics. It's a biological difference right?

What about amputees maybe they can do biology better than French people?

Do I sound stupid yet? You do.

@trregeagle @Sheril If you can’t see the fact men are more naturally drawn to certain fields, while women are more naturally drawn to others, then you really have no business calling anyone stupid.
Should 50% of nurses be men? Or, is it only a “problem” when women are below 50%?

@MWilson @trregeagle @Sheril When I was at school, nearly 100% of boys were "naturally drawn" (by the penis, presumably) to elective subjects like woodwork, metalwork, and electronics, while nearly 100% of girls were similarly irresistibly led by their nether regions to study home economics (a euphemism for cooking and cleaning).

I detested woodwork, metalwork, and electronics, partly because they are unbelievably dull subjects, but also because they are an invitation to bullies to bludgeon, cut, burn, or glue parts of one's anatomy whenever the teacher isn't looking. I fancy a lot of girls were likewise less than thrilled with all the cooking and cleaning. Still, all this was perfectly "natural" if you define "nature" as "the status quo".

Now I'm no naturalist, but I gather that this once perfectly natural absolute gender divide between subjects of study no longer holds. For that matter, I know for a fact that fewer than 100% of the boys in my cohort at school remain boys.

The "nature" upon which you depend on for your "simple facts" appears alarmingly malleable. In fact, it seems like the harder you look, the less of it there is to see. Maybe it isn't there at all.

In the absence of any reason that would account for gender disparity within a profession beyond "Well, duh! Girls like girl stuff and boys like boy stuff. Everybody knows that!", I'm sorry to say that it just looks like institutionalised discrimination.

@MWilson @mjd @trregeagle @Sheril It is simply incorrect that "nobody" considers the lack of men in e.g. nursing and primary school education a problem.

But one reason people look at the lack of women as a problem is that they want women to have equal access to status and compensation.

Professions dominated by men usually has higher status and higher compensation. Giving men the "chance" to lower status and compensation is a harder thing to argue for.