So many replies at once!
@Damocles
I'd imagine the proportion of women in programming jobs is very similar to the proportion of women that are qualified in programming jobs, which is at it should be. I really don't think it's fair to discriminate against men who've worked hard to get their programming qualification in order to add some more women who haven't to address the balance.
I agree that it's a problem though, so I think alternative solutions should be found. Keeping programming as an example, it should be taught far more in schools. Get girls interested in primary school and they may just keep the subject/hobby up until they're making degree choices.
@Steve
I'm pretty young (23), so maybe I'm a little naive. I just think the dinosaurs are in a minority and certainly in a professional environment. You can laugh at a sexist joke at home but still employ women at work.
@Oscar
Again, I may be being naive. I don't think UKIP's rise is due to tons of racists coming out from behind the curtains - it's because a lot of their policies have a common sense element and because a lot of people don't like being dictated to from unelected leaders in Brussels.
@Rascal
I'd argue that the rise of the internet has done much more for getting rid of inequalities. We now get access to worldwide news instantly, can talk about issues with multiple people all over the world in a conversational manner and there's a lot of people sharing their thoughts on issues that are important to them. That's given people a much broader understanding of different cultures.