I'm an (older) woman attempting a career change into programming. (But not new to tech or being the only/few woman in a given environment.) It's disappointing

I'm an (older) woman attempting a career change into programming. (But not new to tech or being the only/few woman in a given environment.) It's disappointing that every time this conversation comes up, it devolves into mean-spirited pseudo-'objective' statements about how 'maybe women just aren't as interested'/'not as good'/'PC/SJW-bullshit'/etc. Look, I'm basically a reasonable person. I'm not looking to be offended at every turn or by every possible 'microaggression' (a concept I personally dislike, btw). I personally haven't experienced many of the issues that other women have. That doesn't mean those issues don't exist in the macro, simply because I haven't experienced them in the micro. Nor does it mean that despite one's 'objective/rational' view, that there aren't underlying subconscious assumptions/biases at work in some situations. Small example. I'll be attending a new coding school in June, developed by the Nerdery in Minneapolis, called Prime Digital Academy. The guys (and they're all guys) running/developing curriculum/teaching seem like genuinely nice people who are putting a particular emphasis on diversity (women, older career changers, etc.) In fact, the oldest person accepted so far is 60! Now, take a look a some of the recent images posted on their @goprimeacademy twitter account. Notice the seating. You're wanting to be accommodating to, among others, older people (not to mention potential disabled people), so you put them in beanbags and on hard (or maybe foam) cubes? Perhaps, despite good intentions, they're making unconscious assumptions about the people that have to sit on them. I don't speak for all women, nor do I think that all women have some universally shared experience. However, I do think that it's very possible (if not extremely likely) that despite one's best intentions, preconceived notions/biases (including the idea that you're an 'objective' person) can preclude you from seeing other people have had different experiences than you, or came to different conclusions. Those notions/biases don't make you a bad person (we all have them, of course), but if you're unwilling to examine them honestly at some point, then it seems reasonable to conclude that you're probably speaking/acting in bad faith. If a lot of (women, POC, or yes, even men, in the case of nursing[1]) are telling an existing environment that they're unwelcoming/unfriendly in some way, then perhaps the most 'reasonable' or 'objective' conclusion is that there's a problem. [1]http://www.professionalnursing.org/article/S8755-7223%2810%2900146-8/abstract http://www.professionalnursing.org/article/S8755-7223%2810%2...