(Daily Mail) Female jobseekers at a women in tech conference have reacted with fury after a number of men crashed the networking event, seemingly taking advantage of the acceptance of ‘nonbinary’ people.
The scandal erupted at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing in Orlando Florida, which is among the most lucrative job finding conventions for young female professionals to meet major tech firms, often right out of college.
But this year’s summit, held from September 26th to 29th, was swarmed with men also looking to land a big interview with firms including Amazon, Apple and Google.
The reason many were welcomed appeared to be the women’s event allowing nonbinary individuals to also attend, sparking anger among women feeling the move was a shameless attempt to take advantage of gender diversity programs.
Footage from the women in tech conference showed numerous men also in attendance, seemingly taking advantage of the vague rules around attendants being ‘nonbinary’
Female attendees were quick to show their distaste at the men showing up at the women’s event, with some even claiming they cut in lines and shoved other guests
@gimmefruit and the menaucity of them pushing and shoving .. like um? lets really talk about it. #gracehopper #ghc #fyp #techtok #orlando #gracehopperconference ♬ The Audacity – Jazmin✨🪐
Furious attendees took to social media to slam the men for gatecrashing the women’s event, however some pointed the finger at vague benchmarks for entering the summit as men could simply identify as ‘nonbinary.’
This was acknowledged by Cullen White, the Chief Impact Officer of AnitaB.org, which hosts the conference, as he took to the stage to address the audience at the end of the event, saying: ‘Simply put, some of you lied about your genderidentity when you registered.’
Mamantha J, an attendee who condemned the event on LinkedIn, said she was ‘really looking forward’ to the forum before realizing it was not what she expected.
‘As a woman who has experienced patriarchic dominance in the tech industry, I hoped the convention would provide a fair chance for me to connect with potential employers,’ she said.
Alongside complaints about long lines and exhausted recruiters, she said she witnessed ‘a significant number of cis-men allies taking opportunities meant for women and non-binary, a concerning trend that seemed unaddressed by the event organizers.’
‘It saddens me the see all those cis men attending #GHC23 and misrepresenting their gender,’ added Anchal Katyalm, a software development manager at Amazon who also hit out at the gatecrashers on Linkedin.
‘We need male allies. We need men who want to celebrate women, who want to work with, and for women,’ she added.
‘For all the women & nonbinary people attending, hold your ground & believe in yourself.’
Another frustrated female jobseeker said on TikTok that she was in line to network with a recruiter when several men cut in front of her in the queue.
@yashitha_suren #ghc #gracehopper #ghc23 ♬ original sound – jovynn
@askthatrecruiter This is insane… #gracehopper #gracehopperconference #womenintech #careertiktok #fyp ♬ original sound – The (Anti) Career Coach🥶
Another participant, Lauren Shaefer, said she was a big fan of the conference ever since she landed an internship there in 2007, until this year where her love of the event was dashed.
‘I once again traveled to the celebration to give a talk, but I didn’t leave feeling refreshed and energized,’ she wrote.
‘The opening and closing talks from the main stage were excellent, but everything in between felt disheartening.’
She added that she even spoke with a security guard who ‘said they kicked out men who were pushing and shoving’, adding that: ‘The career fair was overrun with men.’
‘AnitaB.org addressed the situation, but the career expo was still overcrowded and people were forced to wait an hour just to get into the expo on Friday morning. The situation felt gross.’
Footage of men pushing and shoving or being kicked out has not surfaced, however numerous people on social media have also claimed they saw male attendees aggressively harrying others inside the summit.
A message to cis men attending #GHC23 from Cullen White, Chief Impact Officer at https://t.co/t5BIqtZFZc. pic.twitter.com/HX6sU8uafp
— AnitaB.org (@AnitaB_org) September 27, 2023
