I think there are definitely less women than men but probably more women than it seems like.

I know I don’t mention I’m a woman unless it’s relevant, like this post. Sometimes, I’ll even purposefully use vague language or gender-neutral terms because I don’t want to get condescending interactions or feel like I have to be a perfect representation of a woman in order to dispel stereotypes.

E.g. Although I love technology and tinker with a home lab and small Arduino projects, I’m not about to look like an absolute CS genius if someone feels like confirming a bias they have about women and CS skills.

AKA “You like baseball?? Name every player on the Cubs twenty years ago then.”

It’s sad that, really, you just have to hope they break you enough to get VA comp as a pseudo-pension.