Sure. If it were easy to give everyone equal opportunities, that would be the right place to start.
As it is, we have a history of millennia of oppression of women. When my grandmother was born, women weren't even allowed to vote. Men and women didn't enroll in college in equal numbers until '87. Achieving equal opportunity is going to take a while. Until then, doing nothing isn't being fair, it's supporting an unfair system.
What makes it especially tricky is that outcomes influence opportunities. Female legislators and CEOs are still seen as anomalous by many, and that will continue until there are more of them.
A lot of women believe that they have been frequently discouraged from STEM jobs and leadership roles (see, e.g., http://people.mills.edu/spertus/Gender/why.html), so a counterbalancing public encouragement might go a long way to solving the problem.
As it is, we have a history of millennia of oppression of women. When my grandmother was born, women weren't even allowed to vote. Men and women didn't enroll in college in equal numbers until '87. Achieving equal opportunity is going to take a while. Until then, doing nothing isn't being fair, it's supporting an unfair system.
What makes it especially tricky is that outcomes influence opportunities. Female legislators and CEOs are still seen as anomalous by many, and that will continue until there are more of them.
A lot of women believe that they have been frequently discouraged from STEM jobs and leadership roles (see, e.g., http://people.mills.edu/spertus/Gender/why.html), so a counterbalancing public encouragement might go a long way to solving the problem.