Aside from being set in the future where any possible outcome is probable and attainable, robotics, computer programming, and circuits are readily available to use in any character, but for me comes with a few caveats.
This article here on "Why do we give robots female names, because we don't want to consider their feelings" discusses how current artificial intelligence focuses on using female voices, names and likenesses on developing and developed robotics including voice navigation, computer programmed voices, and those being created for customer assistance.
It all revolves around power structures, who has access to the positions of creating AI's and what their uses will be for. Currently the programming field 8% of the population on female, with about 18% of the computer sciences are women. The work force comprises of 51% of women, and yet they are severely lacking in the technical fields and this is a big problem.
Having women, and men, with equal representation allows for a wider group of people to be able to say hold up, maybe we shouldn't be doing this, or even ask "Why are we only using women as are models?". It all comes down to equal treatment, and I like to believe that this value is currently working its way through our societies, with the hopeful end of this being something of the past, sexism will float away as if it never existed, and equal representation of the sexes will be prevalent in all fields.
I realize that this utopic idea will never happen, and what I mean by that is there will always be people who value one sex over another, just like there are those who value one ice cream over another. The main point is that ENOUGH people will value all sexes that it will reduce the affect of the few who don't, and society will be all the better for it.
We, as writers, have the opportunity to express in written form one of the many possible outcomes of the future, and I chose to try and actively represent equality in my writing.
What that means for me, and hopefully for other is:
1. There are an equal number of men and women on the ship/station/planet
2. That men and women are equally present in military posistions
3. That men and women represent the current spread of possibilities in our society (which includes body shape, sexuality, sexual preference, etc.)
4. Women and men are not sexually assaulted or fear that they will be when serving in the military, on a space station, or on planets
5. Women and men can occupy all positions, and are not thought less of for it
There are more points, but they are all variations of the main 5 themes. This of course does not apply for all situations, all plot lines, all alien species, and all back stories, but the point is, I try and ensure that anything that does happen, happens for a reason and isn't put there because "that's how things are" currently.
This plays into the bigger picture of how readers view what is "normal" and how it will stay "normal" in the future. I hope, as with others, that changing how people think of the possibilities in the future can create change now. This is one of the reasons why I write.
References
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/feminism/2016/04/why-do-we-give-robots-female-names-because-we-dont-want-consider-their
http://fusion.net/story/115998/survey-says-92-percent-of-software-developers-are-men/
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/truth-women-stem-careers/
http://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/technology-media-and-telecommunications/articles/tmt-pred16-tech-women-in-it-jobs.html
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