Sexism in the Software Industry Makes It Difficult for Female Programmers
Employers and interviewers never treat us the same. Neither do colleagues
As a woman, I have often faced discrimination in jobs and job interviews. I had to change jobs twice. One time, I was fired. The other time, I was having my first child and had to quit.
I am working at my third company now. Thanks to the pandemic, remote work has made it easy for me to continue my career. I believe I am as good as any male colleague of mine.
But if you are a man, you would probably never know that I usually don’t get the call for an interview like my male colleague. When I do, I am often asked these types of odd questions:
- “Are you married?”
- “Do you have any little children?”
- “Can you cope with our high-pressure developer job?”
I understand that programming is a high-pressure job, but women can also do it — even with a husband and children. All of my female programmer friends face more or less the same experiences.
We don’t mind if these questions are asked to know us better. But most of the time when the interviewers hear the answers, their facial expressions change, their behavior change, and I get…
