I've had the same experience, and I've reasoned it as follows: It's very difficult to be a woman in Computer Science. CompSci is uniquely awful for women. Like

I've had the same experience, and I've reasoned it as follows: It's very difficult to be a woman in Computer Science. CompSci is uniquely awful for women. Like other STEM, it's overrun by men, so you get all the subtle discrimination of that. But CompSci men also tend to be, for lack of a better word, asocial weirdos. Civil engineers have to work with people, CompSci people built up their skills in front of a screen. All this means that the large majority of women are filtered out. The ones that remain are the ones most skilled with navigating tough situations, and who have a strong passion for engineering. A passion strong enough to wade through the downsides. I also think they have to constantly prove themselves, which also builds up their skills.