Irene Y. Zhang

"It is not for nothing that computer science as a field shapes our world today. All of our titans of industry are computer scientists and none of them are women. 

"In fact, the women that contributed to their success, like Melinda Gates, must be dismissed in service to constructing a myth and religion around these men. As long as computer science retains prestige, men will feel entitled to it and women not. There has been mountains written about this phenomena (and how women are only allowed to succeed in perceived lower prestige parts of the field).

"One of the issues with not being allowed to seek power is that there are very few ways to protect yourself as a woman. 

"I have spent the last couple years working on codes of conduct to prevent harassment. The most common question asked is whether we were using our power to punish men unfairly. Note that these are men who are actively harassing women with multiple incidents reported. 

"And yet, people are still saying that these men are entitled to be in that space because it makes them uncomfortable when women are actively trying to take away men’s power and privilege.

"Of course, the other side of the coin here is that as I get more senior, I experience more frequent and even worse harassment. As a relatively well-connected and successful member of our research community, I have various ways to deal with this harassment, but I shouldn’t have to spend so much of my time and energy on it. 

"Even worse, I am now pulled into other situations where harassment is present because I am expected, as a senior member of the community, to help deal with these incidents. And of course, these episodes are increasingly becoming worse as I advance in my career —they inherently must reach horrible levels of severity to require my involvement. So even gaining power as a woman comes with a traumatic cost."