Why would anyone be surprised that all of the conservators in a lab are women?

The January 2, 2014 issue of The Wall Street Journal contains a short article by Stuart Isacoff about the Laboratorio di restauro dei fortepiano of the Accademia Bartolomeo Cristofori , entitled “Where the Craftsmen Are Women”.  In it, Isacoff expresses surprise that all of the restorers in that lab are women. Perhaps in Italy or perhaps in the sub-specialty of musical instrument conservation men still predominate, but in the U.S. today conservation has become for better or worse a female profession.