Quote:
Originally Posted by wesbass23
If you are willing to share, can you tell us how these situations happened?
I am appalled that someone would be rude enough to say that to you, or even still thinks that way.
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Some people do still think this way. Overtly discriminatory comments are less common, but subtle discrimination is pretty frequent. Sometimes people aren't even aware that they have unconscious biases that play out as subtle discrimination.
I'm an MIT alum and I serve as an MIT Educational Counselor (I am an alumni volunteer who recruits for/promotes MIT, shares information/answers questions, and does interviews for prospective students). I can't tell you how many times I hear from students and parents that I am "lucky to be a girl because it must have been sooo easy for me to get in".
In my career and outside of work, and even in FIRST, people constantly express their surprise that I am a "real engineer" and that I'm "actually smart". I've gotten questions like "but you're a girl, you can't actually like this stuff?" multiple times. I've been repeatedly asked to do things like take notes, schedule meetings, and order food because "women are better at that kind of stuff". I've been excluded from meetings and important technical decisions where I am a stakeholder and have relevant expertise.
Most people I have worked with in school, at work, and in volunteer roles have been great. But discrimination and unconscious bias against women in the STEM fields is absolutely real.