Dear PropellerHeads: I am smart, I like to program, I like math, and I like building things and solving problems. Also, I am a girl. Why is that weird?

A: First, let me say thank you for being one of the three girls (including me) who read the PropellerHead columns. Oh, you didn't know there were PropellerHead girls? See, you are making the same assumptions about us as others do of you. But let's be honest, when I say there are PropellerHead girls, it's really "girl," and that's me.

So why is that?

At this point there is a lot of conjecture but not a lot of facts. The one thing that is clear is that women are vastly underrepresented in the STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). What researchers can't completely pinpoint is why.

There are some common themes among those who try to figure out this quandary. Most have to do with how these subjects are introduced, or really the lack of introduction to them for girls at a young age.

One theory is that culturally, boys are bought video games, computers, things to build, chemistry sets, etc. and encouraged to follow that path of interest while girls' toys are focused on princesses, fairy tales, motherhood, cooking, etc. I think there is some truth to that. Peruse any toy store and there are still "boys" and "girls" aisles, decorated in blue and pink, respectively.

I think western culture has seen that this is a problem and is starting to respond slowly but surely. The site A Mighty Girl (amightygirl.com) touts itself as "The world's largest collection of books, toys and movies for smart, confident and courageous girls." It has a lot of gender neutral toys with categories like Building Toys that may not usually be highlighted in the "girls" area of your local toy store.

You may have gotten a peek of this commercial recently for the company Goldie Blox - slate.me/19hxAUk. Fed up with pink toys, princess parties and tea sets, these toys for future engineers are marketed directly to girls only, and reclaims the idea of what a "girl's" toy even is.

If you are still looking for princesses don't worry, A Mighty Girl features book titles like Princess Smartypants - she doesn't want to get married; she would prefer to live with her pets. The book's description goes on to say that it's appropriate for the budding feminist in your household.

Or check out this Kickstarter for a new children's book "The Princess Who Saved Herself": kck.st/1bI6Ch1. Knight in shining armor? Ain't nobody got time for that.

In my research, the other theory that pops up frequently is that there is a lack of female role models in these industries. That makes sense if you consider that only 11 percent of the world's engineers are women; which seems like a massive number compared to the fact that less than 1 percent of the world's mathematicians are female. While the numbers for female developers are not that bleak, only 1.5 percent of the world's free/open source software developers are female.

OK, so I've highlighted that the numbers of women just aren't there. How do we find the role models with such a lack of saturation of females in these fields?

The answer seems to be that we need to make them and that need to be our own role models.

Organizations like Amy Poehler's Smart Girls (amysmartgirls.com) focus on "intelligence and imagination over 'fitting in.'" They "celebrate curiosity over gossip" and "are a place where people can truly be their weird and wonderful selves."

Programs like Girls Who Code (girlswhocode.com) are attempting to create gender parity in the computer science fields by providing high school-age girls the skills and support to pursue future careers in the industry. Its goal is to reach 1 million women with its efforts and education by the year 2020.

So perhaps it is weird to study calculus for fun, build IKEA furniture better than your husband, and prefer Picard to Kirk. But I'm OK with being a weird girl. I am also OK when the time comes and I am not.

When the PropellerHeads at Data Directions aren't busy with their IT projects, they love to answer questions on business or consumer technology. Email them to questions@askthepropellerheads.com or contact us at Data Directions Inc., 8510 Bell Creek Road, Mechanicsville, VA 23116. Visit our website at www.askthepropellerheads.com.