At age 16, I took my first engineering class in high school. As one of only two girls, I was met with whispers of, "She only took this class to meet boys, and have the attention all to herself."
At age 17, I sought out an AP Computer Science class online and only made it halfway through. I was told that maybe programming wasn't for me, and I should explore other options.
At age 18, I applied to college for computer engineering, and I was met with questions like, "Are you sure you want to do this? It's going to be really hard — are you up for it?" and "You know you'll probably be the only woman in most of your classes, right?"
At age 20, I was told I could have any internship I wanted because, "All tech companies are looking to hire women."
At age 22, I drove 12 hours to Michigan to compete in an autonomous vehicle competition with a vehicle I had led the autonomous algorithm development of. Again, I was greeted with a myriad of "wows" — because no way was *I* in software.
At age 23, I was asked to work front-end development on a project because "I'd have a much better eye for it" than any of the men on the team, and the back-end development was "pretty complex."
At age 24, I was told our "this could have been an email" meeting had value because the only two other women on the call had "made a connection" and were now friends because they were the only two that spoke up.
At age 25, I removed my job title from my dating profile because I was sick of being told that I was too pretty to be an engineer or too smart and intimidating to be with.
At age 26, I have mentored dozens of female college students, interns, and new hires, and every single one of them has told me they have wanted to give up and have asked me how I handle it.
A few weeks ago, I was on a flight to a large tech conference, and the men next to me were not only surprised that I was attending but also that I was attending as a senior software engineer in server less and could hold my own in a technical conversation.
Continue reading: https://www.businessinsider.com/women-in-tech-how-to-support-us-2022-1
At age 17, I sought out an AP Computer Science class online and only made it halfway through. I was told that maybe programming wasn't for me, and I should explore other options.
At age 18, I applied to college for computer engineering, and I was met with questions like, "Are you sure you want to do this? It's going to be really hard — are you up for it?" and "You know you'll probably be the only woman in most of your classes, right?"
At age 20, I was told I could have any internship I wanted because, "All tech companies are looking to hire women."
At age 22, I drove 12 hours to Michigan to compete in an autonomous vehicle competition with a vehicle I had led the autonomous algorithm development of. Again, I was greeted with a myriad of "wows" — because no way was *I* in software.
At age 23, I was asked to work front-end development on a project because "I'd have a much better eye for it" than any of the men on the team, and the back-end development was "pretty complex."
At age 24, I was told our "this could have been an email" meeting had value because the only two other women on the call had "made a connection" and were now friends because they were the only two that spoke up.
At age 25, I removed my job title from my dating profile because I was sick of being told that I was too pretty to be an engineer or too smart and intimidating to be with.
At age 26, I have mentored dozens of female college students, interns, and new hires, and every single one of them has told me they have wanted to give up and have asked me how I handle it.
A few weeks ago, I was on a flight to a large tech conference, and the men next to me were not only surprised that I was attending but also that I was attending as a senior software engineer in server less and could hold my own in a technical conversation.
Continue reading: https://www.businessinsider.com/women-in-tech-how-to-support-us-2022-1
