Absolutely no reason at all why it shouldn't be 50:50
Apart from the polically incorrect - with a twist.
Conditioning and paucity of expectation amongst girls in the UK
Perhaps Sally would care to briefly describe the campaigns by the Engineering Council - they've been run for the last 25 years that I know of just to get a single digit percentage of women in the industry.
The vast majority of girls leaving school in the UK have no expectation of, or family support for a career in one of the more exotic or well paid professions that require tertiary level qualification or beyond.
Now then, you're about to leap down my throat and shower me me all your examples to prove otherwise amongst your family, friends and colleagues at school.
I can do just the same but I write very carefully indeed - I said the majority. A very important majority - the low paid worker bees the economy depends on and which, despite protestations to the contrary, commerce and industry don't want to lose from a 'service' economy.
As quite a few of you know Danny and I had extremely varied careers before becoming professional pilots close to the ages of 40. I spent 13 years in an inner city area getting students prepared for and into work. An impromtu back of the fag packet calculation show just over 7,000 were girls.
Of those less than ten went straight onto something most of would regard as 'interesting.' IT, journalism, photography and so on. Well under a thousand went on to some form of degree level education.
What was utterly frustrating were the incredibly intelligent ones, several hundred of whom were entirely capable of qualifications and careers at the very highest level. Their expections were so low that despite an entire school career of top marks, assessment and praise they uniformly could see no further than a job in a bank or building society. More worryingly they were viewed by the others as the creme de la creme achieving jobs they could never aspire to.
Not one ever in 13 years said they wanted to be a doctor, lawyer, scientist or engineer although one who was expelled became a very good computer networking specialist for a company called Gandalph.
I've no illusions that this post will garner support - it's just not PC to suggest our culture and establishment aren't supportive and the public have swallowed the stories of girls outperforming boys in exams without ever considering what happens to them afterwards. But tell you what. Why not hold off from replying until after you've taken your next walk around a big shopping centre, a couple of supermarkets, burger joints, and, knowing you lot, pubs........... The evidence is looking at you from across every counter you stop at.
Rob