An event billed as the largest gathering of women and nonbinary technologists in the world was recently dominated by men, causing uproar among attendees and leading to apologies from organizers.
The in-person Grace Hopper Celebration was organized by AnitaB and took place from September 26-29 in Orlando, Florida. Activities included a career fair and expo, in addition to opportunities for those in the industry to seek prospective career opportunities and to mingle with others. Singer and actor Janelle Monáe was one of the keynote speakers.
But instead of catering to its intended audience that paid about $1,300 per ticket just to get in the doors, organizers soon realized that cisgender men had flooded the conference allegedly for their own personal gain.
“This is supposed to be a joyous event that centers around you,” AnitaB Chief Impact Officer Cullen White told attendees on September 27. “Yesterday, it became clear that there are a far greater number of cisgender men attending than we anticipated.
“Simply put, some of you lied when you registered. And as evidenced by the stacks and stacks of resumes you’re passing out, you did so because you thought you could come here and take space to try and get a job. We need male allies; we need men who want to celebrate women, work with and for women. So, we welcome men in this space—to learn and support and improve.”
Men apparently took discounted academic tickets from women who sought them, as well as interview slots and recruiting opportunities—all things to which male attendees had “no right” to infringe based on who the event was for, White said.
“So, let me be perfectly clear: Stop, White said.
Newsweek reached out to AnitaB via email for comment.
One social media user asked AnitaB what they were doing beyond calling out male attendees, to ensure that the women and nonbinary people received their proper resources.
“Our first step toward creating a plan for change is to *listen*, and we are in the process of developing a collaborative avenue for GHC attendees to share more so we can do just that,” AnitaB responded through its account on X, formerly Twitter. “Throughout this process, we will be transparent.”
The response stirred more of an uproar on all sides of the political spectrum, with some joking that AnitaB had no plan in place to counter the possibility of the event being overrun by cisgender men. Others called out the organization for having a white male as its chief impact officer and for not speaking up strongly enough for allies at the conference.
“You should try answering the question,” said one X user. “Or another question: how will you determine who qualifies as NB [nonbinary] and who doesn’t? What specific characteristics will you use?”
Some female attendees posted videos on TikTok criticizing the event being overrun by men who were allegedly cutting in front of them in recruiting lines.
One woman named Lily, a product designer from San Francisco, expressed her anger towards how the event unfolded and questioned why men wanted to infiltrate a space meant to provide representation to females in the tech field. Her TikTok post has been liked nearly 350,000 times.
“This year has been the first year where there has a been an insane amount of men who went, and they’re not going to listen to the sessions and learn,” Lily said, noting how Grace Hopper was a pioneer computer scientist, mathematician and Navy admiral. “They were there just purely for the career fair.”
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On the final day of the conference, AnitaB’s vice president of programs, Amanda Hill-Attkisson said the organization’s mission has always been to challenge gender discrimination, racial discrimination, sexual harassment, discounting and pay standards.
“But it’s not supposed to happen here,” Hill-Attkisson said. “I deeply apologize to those who did not have the experience they expected. Next year, we will be much clearer about expectations and very swift in our enforcement. And I promise we see you, we hear you, we are taking your input forward. Changes will be made.”