In past years, the Grace Hopper Conference (GHC), an event for women and non-binary technologists with speeches, workshops and a job fair, has provided a safe space for attendees as well as valuable opportunities for networking and recruiting.

Earlier this year, however, dozens of cisgender men flooded into the overflowing Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center, cut lines and shoved resumes at recruiters. The disastrous 2023 Grace Hopper Conference, an annual event focused on promoting female representation in technology, left women fearing for their safety as cisgender men crashed the women and non-binary event. Many of these men shoved past security and flooded into the convention center, shouting and cutting to the front of job recruiting lines and even sexually harassing women. Held from Sept. 26 to Sept. 29, the GHC was a letdown for aspiring female and non-binary technologists.

The conference strives to correct the under-representation of women in the tech field; however, the disrespect displayed by men at the event destroys the reasoning behind GHC’s formation and shows gender biases in tech are pervasive. 

Courtesy of @jennywnuo on TikTok 

Caption: Cis-gender men invade the event intended for women & non-binary participants.

Named after Grace Brewster Murray Hopper, a woman who pioneered the idea of automatic programming in World War II, the GHC is the world’s largest annual gathering for women and non-binary technologists, typically exceeding 30,000 attendees. Through a series of conferences and a job fair, the conference aims to encourage female involvement in technology, bringing valuable support to women and non-binary people in tech. 

Over four days, female and non-binary technologists attend a series of speeches and workshops to promote inclusivity and discuss gender bias within the tech industry. They also attend a career fair where they have the opportunity to interact with recruiters from major companies and learn about jobs and internship openings. Attendees often get interviews or even offers on the spot, which is an important opportunity that significantly benefits women in a largely male-run industry. 

However, this year, cisgender men invaded the event’s job fairs in hopes of talking to recruiters and acquiring new jobs — likely due to steep competition amid widespread layoffs, largely caused by inflation from the COVID-19 virus. Tech layoffs in 2023 are up 50% compared to 2022 with 1,059 tech companies laying off 240,193 employees so far this year. 

While the men’s desperation to secure a job might be understandable, their aggression went against the spirit of the event, and crowding out women was a flagrant show of disrespect. Some cisgender men even claimed to be non-binary, a further blow invalidating the experiences of actual non-binary attendees who came to the event looking for support and acceptance.

Although men are not explicitly banned from the event, the attendance policy is an honor system based on trust and goodwill. However, this system was unfortunately taken advantage of, tainting the purpose of these organizations and preventing them from working effectively. While a few men are reportedly seen at the conference each year, this year, several women reported a 40 to 60 ratio of men to women, especially at the career fair.

Attendees paid $649 to $1,298 for tickets, and the price of two-way plane tickets and a hotel for at least four days for a place marketed as safe, inclusive and opportunity-filled only to be met with crowds of men and an unsafe environment. 

When men claiming to be non-binary come solely to talk to recruiters, they disrespect the effort and time that participants, organizers and Grace Hopper have put in to create and improve the event. 

In online discussions on LinkedIn after the event, many women reported feeling threatened, physically and emotionally.

“I was forced to leave the queue to enter the expo hall today due to unchecked men displaying aggressive behavior, ganging up to trample women completely. I feared for my health and safety and fled the scene first thing in the morning,” said Nivrithi Garimella, an undergraduate Computer Science major at the University of Florida. 

“The only place I saw men in the conference was the career fair. If you are a man and are coming to a celebration for women, please be a part of their celebration,” attendee Unnati Agarwal said. 

Other female attendees reported receiving inappropriate remarks, uninvited flirtation and other disrespectful behavior from male attendees while waiting in interview lines.

AnitaB, the organization that organized the Grace Hopper Conference, responded to the backlash by saying that the conference cannot legally exclude men from attending the conference as Federal Non-Discrimination laws prohibit the organization from discriminating based on gender. However, the organization has not even attempted to make any restrictions to discourage men from invading the conference and to enforce professional behavior. 

One possible solution is to require all attendees to participate in the celebratory portion of the conference: the speeches given by women in tech, workshops or conferences. If men show up for job opportunities, they should at least have the decency to participate in the rest of the event and show their support for women in tech. 

The outcome of the 2023 GHC underscores the underlying issue of gender inequality in tech. Unequal pay, stereotypes, inadequate maternity support and an unwelcoming work environment all work together to push women out of the field. Many companies have poor, outdated maternity leave policies that force mothers to choose between spending time with their child and their job. A study done at Stanford also shows that the tech community subconsciously makes women feel unwelcomed, even before they apply. 

Another study conducted in 2023 showed women make up only 28% of computer and math jobs and are additionally 1.6 times more likely to be laid off than men. These alarming statistics show the extent of gender-biased traditions that make up the tech industry and how little progress to close the gender gap has taken place over the past few years. 

Even in strong STEM schools like Saratoga High, higher-level science classes like Calculus BC or Physics C have a steep imbalance in the number of male students compared to females. When faced with a classroom full of boys with just a few other girls, female students can feel discouraged and out of place. 

This year’s GHC was a huge disappointment as many women were forced to leave due to the unethical behavior of men desperate for jobs; however, future events have the potential to uplift gender minorities in tech. The gender biases weaved into the tech industry will not be fixed easily but can be slowly overcome with events like the GCH, provided that what happened this year doesn’t repeat itself. 

Instead of staying silent and allowing cis-gender men to creep into spaces designed for women and non-binary people, AnitaB.org should enact stricter policies that obligate men to actively celebrate women and non-binary people alongside the appealing career opportunities they came for.