I guess it depends on what you consider "troubleshooting." I don't think 46% of either gender has the chops/patience to install an operating system.
A Reuters clip states some statistics of techy women
Archived thread 228073 from Ubuntu Women. Markdown source: Ubuntu_Women/thread_228073_A_Reuters_clip_states_some_statistics_of_techy_wom.md
But installing Ubuntu is so easy! 'Specially for me, with a pure install. Anyway, I'm just saying that more publicity WOULD be effective.
I think that more women are realizing that it's not so hard to do their own troubleshooting, especially with a good forum to refer to and ask questions to (I've had lots of luck here) or a good book (I recommend Ubuntu Hacks). Even Windows isn't too hard. If you run into to something wonky, sometimes it's difficult to fix, but for the most part, Windows, as well as Ubuntu both JustWork (TM).
The installation of Ubuntu isn't that hard. It "looks" hard because you must make some important decisions (partitioning, etc) but if you start from a clean slate (or a fresh Windows install with pre-partitioned hard drives) it's not too difficult. I ran into some issues with Grub, but I got them straightened out after a couple days.
I think more women are willing to take it on as a learning experiance. I am, and I've been rewarded richly. I feel really good, being able to fix my own system, just through reading and typing some commands and editing some files. :)
SoloSalsa, I agree that more publicy would be effective. I tell all my friends about it, and I've ordered some shipit CDs of LTS so I can pass them out. :) I like to think that I'm doing my little part to spread the good word.
Amy
"Troubleshooting" is a very ill-defined word, if you have a go at any problem, but 99% of the time end up asking for help, do you do your own troubleshooting?