A reader with a PhD in physics has been working in the tech industry for many years, but she’s struggled to cope with the huge gender imbalance at the startups she’s worked for. She feels she can’t fully be herself—or a mother:
When I entered the office for my interview, I saw every head in the glass-enclosed conference room pop up and look over at me. I’ve trained myself to have a sort of small, permanent smile plastered on my face, and I hoped, as the room was looking me over, that my smile looked natural, approachable, and genuine.
That is the persona I’ve settled on: Approachable and genuine. Everyone’s little sister.
In that way, I can inhabit a special place, still allowed to be feminine, someone everyone roots for but no one is sexually attracted to, or intellectually threatened by. Everyone wants his kid sister to win. Everyone will defend his little sister from bullies.
Sure, you may forget she is a girl; you may leave her out of some things because you forget about her; but you are not going forget her all together. And you certainly aren’t going to want your friends to sleep with her.
from Technology | The Atlantic http://ift.tt/2nDbIo6
