In the specific case of women in CS/CE, I think it's fair to say that the lack of women is rather troubling, and has roots in prejudice. So yeah, who knows. Maybe recognizing the success of women in this field might help restore some balance and one day make this positive discrimination unecessary. Then we won't need any special terms and all programmers will be called programmers.
How do you define 'balance' in this scenario?
Trying to correct this at the college level or later is like trying to bend a paper clip back into a straight wire.
So these groups are important. They allow for people to advocate for themselves and to be heard as something more than a lone voice in the wilderness.
Interesting, any data to support that?