STEM “women” unite

[CurtainstoCurtains]

Today I went to work as a women.

But reading some posts on here tonight, perhaps I am really a man...

I mean I couldn’t have possibly come up with an algorithm (in a week, that the male team struggled with for a year) that might make our company 6million quid in the next 4 years.

That wouldn’t make sense because I have a pink brain and I can only nurture children not businesses...

I wasn’t wearing trousers when I did this either, I wa sweating a skirt.

I am totally confused.

I was also, after the aforementioned achievement,
Asked by my boss in my monthly 1:2:1 if I was likely to have another child.

Does any one know what my gender is?

Does any other women in STEM careers feel the same?

Not in STEM myself, but you're clearly a man. Your boss was probably just making polite conversation about kids.

Seriously though, do you regularly get asked about family planning at work?!

blah, blah, blah skirt blah, blah, blah.

Because the only thing that matters is how you present.

I was going to say skirt but I was beaten to it. Were you wearing lipstick too.
I've saved millions but I was wearing trousers and no lippy so I'm a man :(

During my early years of employment, late 90's, being in STEM and a woman was a blessing.
I may have originally got the job because I was a woman, and the only one at that, but once I had my foot in the door, I was valued.

My last STEM job in industry ended in 2006 when I took 5 years out to have children. I was still the only technical female, within that discipline, in the company.

I can recall only one outwardly bigoted person in all those years and he was from a culture where the women traditionally stay at home.

I'm in STEM and I certainly used to get belittled a lot, asked lots of inappropriate questions but, most of all, mistaken for the 'default' romantic interest for all the heterosexual men around.

I've definitely also had the 'you're not REALLY a woman though, not like other girls' thing.

It happens a lot less these days. Reason one will be purely position-based: I'm a manager and most of my colleagues are not suicidal. The other part is that I've started punching back hard (in the purely metaphorical sense).

I was actually very proud when one of my people recently introduced his new employee to me with the words 'this is TERF, our [Business Area] Senior Operations Manager - don't pull the girl thing on her, she'll have you for breakfast!'

What we need are more Role Models.

Like the one at the bottom of the page on this link - www.architecture.com/campaign/international-womens-day

Wise that link... head... desk!

I am genuinely lucky in that where I work we have a good number of women in STEM and I've not encountered sexism from other people (the pay has been a different story...) No problems over pregnancy and maternity leave, even managed to get a promotion once back at work while DS was still a toddler... Which is not to in any way downplay the experiences of women who have a crap time with colleagues, management and clients, just to say some places are doing it right.

I work in STEM. I've had the 'you're not a real girl' talk, too. When I was 31.

46 been in tech since graduation. I still shake my head every day at the shit that comes out of people's mouths about women.

Loving sci fi movies and zombie apocalypse books makes me not a normal woman