As an unscientific observation I think tech pushes people away by viewing complexity and systems in a linear rather than holistic way. Problems are isolated from the swirl of activity they reside in and tinkered with outside their native relationships. The oddest thing I find in the literature on mastering something is the lack of reference to problem solving. It all seems to be a rush to solution–any one will do–so we pick around for the “right solution” instead of “why might this not be the right solution?” which seems unproductive but forces us unto a wider view of the whole thing.
The last technician to do an Eco-cardiogram on me was struggling to “see through” all the scar tissue around my heart. While she was scanning I watched her other hand dancing with the imaged surfaces like I’ve seen carpenters and mechanics enter into the space of their work–the place where the solution lived. Maybe he locations of tech abilities and creativity reside in distinct places of the brain that only some people can couple to work together?
Most accessible books on Complexity Theory are by Donella H. Meadows “Thinking in Systems”; Joanna Macy “Mutual Causality in Buddhism and General Systems Theory – The Dharma of Natural Systems” (best read on the beach in California); Melanie Mitchell “Complexity A guided Tour.” It could be that this has nothing to do with gender but where would we be had these women had been denied access to the field?