One of those things that never happens has happened again - tech recruitment related

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

What a huge surprise. https://www.wired.com/story/grace-hopper-celebration-career-fair-men/ Careers fair in Orlando, Florida, supposedly aimed at, and in previous years mostly attended by, women and nonbinary people, was this year overrun by obvious males, many of whom had ticked a box claiming to be female or nonbinary. Self-ID, no checks possible, no way of policing or preventing this from happening. The not-for-profit organisation which runs it says they 'cannot ban men from attending due to federal nondiscrimination protections in the US'.

It seems that men were happy to leave this event to the women in the past because it was easy for men to get jobs in tech. Now it isn't, so naturally they have muscled in.

(Event is named for the amazing Grace Hopper: American computer scientist, mathematician, and United States Navy rear admiral. )

Context from the article:
Cullen White, AnitaB.org’s chief impact officer, said in a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, that some registrants had lied about their gender identity when signing up, and men were now taking up space and time with recruiters that should go to women. “All of those are limited resources to which you have no right,” White said. ...
Tech jobs, once a fairly safe and lucrative bet, have become more elusive. In 2022 and 2023, tech companies around the world laid off more than 400,000 workers, according to Layoffs.fyi, a site that tracks job losses across the industry. Tens of thousands of those cuts have come from huge employers like Meta and Amazon, and some firms have instituted hiring freezes. The layoffs have been particularly brutal for immigrant workers, who have been left scrambling for sponsorship in the US after losing work.
The controversy at the Grace Hopper Celebration shows the fallout of those job losses, as women and non-binary people still struggle to find equal footing in an industry dominated by men. Women made up just a third of those working in STEM jobs as of 2021, according to the US National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics.
As job cuts bite, all prospective tech workers have become more desperate for opportunities. During the conference, videos posted to TikTok showed a sea of men waiting in line to enter the conference or speak with recruiters in the expo hall. Men and women are seen running into the expo as a staffer yells for them to slow down.

"The nonprofit says it believes allyship from men is important and noted it cannot ban men from attending due to federal nondiscrimination protections in the US."

Is this true? Is there no single-sex exception in US non-discrimination law?

thank you and ditto ❤️ it just enrages me how they have been going on about lack of women in IT for decades now but, as a society, we've leap frogged that and let these effing men come in by the back door and steal everything, that they had virtually all of anyway. It's not as obvious as in Sports but it's just as bloody insidious.

Agreed.

I work in tech and in my opinion that's precisely why this event was overrun. There are a lot of men who believe women aren't/can't be technical enough to be good engineers, there are a lot of men who believe the events to encourage more women into tech are a risk to their jobs, there are a lot of men who believe women have an easier time and are given special treatment.
Not to mention that because it's such a male dominated industry unconscious bias abounds and men get away with some openly misogynistic behaviour.

I'm not at all surprised by this. But I think its driven by misogyny, not gender criticality. Wouldn't be at all surprised if it was organised on the manosphere somewhere.

It doesn't really matter about the motivations, and again the same mistake is being made thinking that it is a hive mind, various men could've attended for various reasons (Incel, GC etc).

What is important is that it shows how stupid this stuff is. I've received many of these Women in Tech events ( women and gender-nonconforming), and it's clear this virtue signalling is going to be abused.

The irony of a middle-aged man then moaning about all the men at the event, and the sudden realisation that everyone can tell the difference between men and women just proves the Emperor's New Clothes.

It's all very well having diversity charters etc, but it really is an excuse for those who aren't discriminated against to maintain top positions and claim "ally-ship". Women in Tech conference with the head being a man...

I like this from the DM comments
"How did anyone know they were men - were they biologists?"

Well, exactly!

It does matter about the motivations when you work in the industry alongside these men.
I'm totally burnt out by it tbh. I used to take my potential "role model" status seriously and try to encourage women into the career but it feels like there is a huge backlash against women's equality at the moment and men are becoming more brazenly sexist. I'd struggle to encourage any woman to stay in tech right now.

I disagree, I don't care about the motivations of the men there. It should be a women only event. I don't care whether the men there have incel beliefs, GC beliefs, do think they are "non-binary", they all shouldn't be there.

I agree with both of you. I've given up trying too and am sick of being invited to toothless "encouraging women into tech" events. I've been to bloody hundreds of them and they make no difference, nothing ever changes. Literally between typing this message and my last one two men at work have stitched me up and stolen credit for my work from under me. It happens weekly and, after a brief lull a few years back maybe, is back up to full speed, as it ever was.

I also think that women's events should be just for women and am glad that we live in a country where that at least is possible, though it's clearly only a matter of time before that's overran with the male type of women. What I find interesting is at these all female forums women speak up and honestly about how sexist and misogynistic IT is, like we are doing here. As soon as an ally shows up, everyone clams up. Because they're invariably senior men and if you speak honestly they use it as an excuse not to promote you because of your 'negative attitude' and 'not a team player'.

I know it's not a hive mind and I have sons, and I want them to get jobs, but it is a pattern of behaviour and discrimination against women, and this is just a new way to do it.

'Cis-men' = the grabby fuckers didn't even bother to stick a bow in their hair and put on a bit of lippy.

Turns out you don't need genital inspectors, after all.

You just know there is going to be absolutely zero critical reflection upon this by all those concerned. It will be some guff about right-wing men hijacking the event, and no thought given to exactly how men, of any persuasion, were able to do that.

Oh I agree with that. I just think this would happen a different way if the NB/self-ID option wasn't there. Probably by them all calling themselves "allys". Or even just plain invading, or demanding the event doesn't go ahead because its "unfair". Or demanding a similar event for men.
I'm heartily sick of it. What would be ideal would be if the companies attending dealt with this overtly misogynistic behaviour from their staff (or black marked them for recruitment). But I have no confidence they will.

I wonder if they would be okay with this if the majority of male attendees were a bit whiter and threw on an inappropriately short frock and some garish lippy. Rather than presenting as the shirt and slacks wearing South Asian blokes shown.