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beth92 profile image
beth92

It sounds like you are working in a very toxic environment with a lot of people who are projecting their own misery and insecurities onto you. I definitely recognize the behaviour you are describing and I have experienced it myself - btw I am also a female intermediate developer with about 3 years at my current company. I think it's no secret that there is a pattern of women being undervalued and or silenced in the workplace in general, whether intentional or not, but interestingly I have only ever experienced this kind of attitude from outside of the engineering department. Predictably, almost all my dev colleagues are male, but I have always found every single one of them to be incredibly supportive, respectful and encouraging. I have however been treated 'like an idiot', over-explained incorrect information or straight up ignored by a lot of male co workers outside of the department or in management. The common theme is it's usually those who are either trying desperately to migrate into a dev role but lack the skills, or have long since left behind any technical work in favor of a more administrative position. I therefore have a suspicion that the root cause of this kind of disrespect comes from a place of fear or feeling threatened - by belittling someone and painting them as inexperienced, pointing out how they are 'junior' etc, they believe they can boost the public perception of their own expertise.
Obviously it's objectively very unprofessional and douchey to act like this, but in a toxic environment of like minded people they will get away with it. I recommend, like others have, looking for a company with a more healthy culture of encouragement and positive feedback. If you stay in a toxic work culture that doesn't make you feel validated it can end up severely affecting your everyday happiness and no one should have to put up with that at work. I can tell that you are not an arrogant person who overestimates themselves from the way you phrased this post, but exhibits of such assholes can be seen in a few of the comments here.
I hope your situation improves - just remember the vast majority of good engineers are supportive and kind and if someone feels the need to talk down to you and tell you your opinions are 'crap', that's a 'them' problem.

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helleworld_ profile image
DesirΓ© πŸ‘©β€πŸŽ“πŸ‘©β€πŸ«

Thank you so much for your kind and supportive words!

As seeing your perspective and experience I can say you're totally right. I've been thinking it was my fault somehow, that maybe I couldn't get where I wanted because I wasn't good enough and everyone was making me go slower when by myself I was achieving great things (giving conferences, teaching, being a LinkedIn instructor...), but now that you've exposed it like that I definitely can see it crystal clear.

We won't ever be able to keep the good vibes with everyone, specially with those that, as females or just because they see us as a threat, will try to let us down and demotivate us...

Thank you again and have a really nice day.