I think a lot of what is holding girls back is that they are afraid of 'oh no, what if i don't get this and i look dumb' or they feel like they don't have any experience, or a social stigma perhaps (me, im proud of my geek status. geeks are cool
) but I think we just need to help them get over that. As for looking dumb...I cannot count the number of times I have set myself up to 'look dumb', but I learned so much....and I had lots of fun too!