Classrooms and Language
I'm in IT and I would want the second classroom. First of all, I get the stereotype, but I have never seen a classroom with Star Trek posters on the wall - not in college, not in certification training centers, nowhere. So that really isn't representative. Plus, the first picture has clutter on the floor and the second one is neat and clean. Also, the first picture is dark and dim whereas the second is light and bright. For reference, look at the top of the frame near the ceiling in both pictures. The first picture is noticeably darker. Look at the tone of the floor and the shade of the teacher's desk in both pictures. Both elements in the top picture are darker. This makes it gloomy. Who would want to spend a whole semester in that classroom? About half the boys and a third of the girls according to the survey. I don't know, maybe they liked the posters :)
In any learning environment, the teacher/facilities manager should strive for adequate lighting, cleanliness, neutral colors with some splash of creativity or inspiration, and a professional appearance. I think that holds true for any classroom whether poly-sci, pre-med, or IT.
I still agree with the spirit of the article though. There are many geek assumptions connected to IT careers. One thing that might help is if we can change the language. So many business people refer to technicians as the computer guy, but how do they know that the engineer about to be assigned to their case isn't a woman? So if we could steer labels and titles toward IT Pro, Engineer, Developer, Data Scientist, etc. then maybe we can begin to dissolve the expectation that IT is traditionally a male-dominated field.