Wanted: Female Game Coders

The computer games industry has plenty of women working in it these days - just not that many up at the programming 'coal face' so to speak. A UK university is joining forces with several games companies in an attempt to change this - by trying to persuade more women to join it's game coding degree course, according to the BBC:

A UK university is trying to get women to apply for a computer games programming degree.

The University of Derby is launching a programming course and has had 106 applicants - all men.

So it is making a special effort to persuade women that solitary hours in front of a computer screen can be good for their career prospects.

An initial step will be to hold some all-female summer schools, while scholarships are also being explored.

More here

Why is there this disparity in numbers? Is it purely down to the widely held belief the computers are for geeks only? It can't be that, as plenty of Women can be classed as 'geeks' in their own right (and I mean that as a compliment, girls). Is it purely down to game content and the chicken and egg scenario outlined in the article? Will more 'pink' games help? Tell us your thoughts here.