Object oriented programming vs imperative programming
Relational vs mechanical command oriented
Really gender polarized? "Relational" fits certain stereotypes of females being nurturing, relation-oriented. That's not necessarily a bad thing.

What I want to know is whether there is a observable difference between women's (and men's) responses to/performance on tasks centered around relational paradigms vs mechanical ones (whatever that means).

This isn't very fleshed out because I'm sitting in a seminar right now, jotting this down before I forget.