Barbie's been everything: a supermodel, a teacher, a nurse, and other careers that often fit a sexist stereotype about what work a woman can do. Departing from this trend, Mattel invited people to vote on Barbie's next career from a number of choices, some of which are very academically challenging. The result is that the newest Barbie doll will be a computer engineer:

The choice of computer engineer — a field in which men far outnumber women and in which women’s participation has been declining — was announced Friday at the New York Toy Fair.

Lynn Langit, a developer evangelist at Microsoft who teaches programming to girls and works on a Microsoft program called DigiGirlz that teaches girls about technology careers, said she was thrilled about Barbie’s next career.

“We can use any sort of positive influence that we have, because the number of girls studying programming is abysmal,” she said.

Link via Wired | Image: Mattel