I agree with quaz.

This mirrors the things that I have seen myself as a physical scientist.

It's a pervasive issue, and mostly a hidden one (except for those of us that it is happening to, that is) for several reasons:

a) nobody wants to be labeled as a "whiner" or even "not a team player," and few women will EVER live down such a label if they speak up,

b) much of the misogyny is just short of actionable, or

c) (carefully?) done so that no record of it exists or can be verified.

So it isn't necessarily that it isn't happening. It's just that it happens with few witnesses, it's a pattern of subtly hostile behavior (not a single, overtly discriminatory event), and there is often a clear subtext that if you want to be one of the guys, you'd better just shut up and take your hazing.

All in 'good fun,' of course.

My very least favorite line from male colleagues became "Oh, no offense intended, of course..." when they'd 'remember' that I was in the room with them while they shared an off-color joke, etc.

Also really liked, "But you're not like that..." after getting treated to some anecdote about how female colleagues were unreliable, thought they were entitled to special treatment, tried to establish a 'pack' of female faculty members... etc. etc.

The message was crystal clear. If I sought a female mentor, it was because I was weak and/or looking for a political ally. If I asked for anything-- even indicator prep help for my teaching labs during the first trimester of pregnancy-- it was a 'special favor' that they were granting me, and I should remember how "nice" that was.

Was this a particularly ugly work environment? Yes, it was. Was it uglier still for women in particular? Yes, again.



Schrödinger's cat walks into a bar. And doesn't.