Reflecting on all the times in my career as a software engineer I have been told that, yes, things were a bit unfair to me as a woman, but that I was being a trailblazer, I was the one discovering and establishing the path that would enable others to follow.

But you go back to the 70s and you see the same number of women programmers, being fed that exact same line
And in the 80s
and the 90s
and so on to today. The "trailblazer" narrative is a lie told by managers to make themselves feel better

@Xibanya there used to be that weird period early on where programming was considered "women's work" because it was thought of as tedious clerical work so if anything things have slid backwards

@waitworry
@Xibanya
I'm expecting that over the next decade or so all the men will move on from programming to vibe-coding or some similar BS, actual programming will lose respectability (in their eyes) and it will again become "women's work" and there will be a mass exodus of men from the field.

This has already happened in other fields, notably veterinary medicine, biological science, and interior design. Programming will be next.

@evilotto @waitworry @Xibanya Agreed. And I can already hear those men justifying the wage gap from here – “Women just *choose* lower-paying jobs!” It’s definitely not that we slash the salaries once women start getting paid…