Recently attended an event for women in a particular (traditionally male dominated) industry. The event was part of a larger conference with both male and female delegates. This particular event was a coaching event for the ‘women in X’ group run by a female professional coach.
I am not in X industry, had been asked to attend in a slightly different capacity, so was able to mostly observe.
Two men from the conference attended the event. I’m not sure if they asked whether it would be ok or just assumed - presumably they were interested in the topic.
Predictably, these two men totally dominated the conversation - speaking over the women repeatedly. At one point one interrupted the coach and gave a lengthy spiel which was basically a less coherent version of what she was already in the middle of saying.
I know this is nothing new and entirely predictable. It was just fascinating if not utterly depressing to see it ‘in the wild’. I’ve previously worked in very different types of workplaces (with far more women though the men there were perfectly capable of similar behaviour) and now work freelance from home usually so don’t have other colleagues to deal with. To see it happen in a group and an event specifically targeted at women and explicitly titled as for them, to empower them - that was quite something.
If it had been my industry/ event I think I would have struggled not to comment, but very much felt it wasn’t my place.
Do other people have similar experiences?