#107 “It made me sad because I felt like all of the micro aggressions that were jabs at my ability were actually just him flirting with me and I was being seen as a woman, not a valuable coworker.”

“I was interning at a company as a business intern and wanted to learn more about working on an engineering team. I would spend time finding projects that gave me exposure to working with technical tools to show the engineering manager that I had what it takes. I felt like an imposter because I didn't study CS or have any prior work experience on an engineering team (this team was all senior male engineers), and so I was very intentional with the steps I took in order to transition successfully. I specifically remember the other intern (male) making arrogant comments about me wanting to learn and about the legitimacy of the current tasks I did which often felt like micro aggressions. He then would message me on Slack jokingly telling me he was my boss or distract me with random comments. After a bit of time working together, he left me a voicemail telling me how he thought I was cool and wanted to hang out with me outside of work. It made me sad because I felt like all of the micro aggressions that were jabs at my ability were actually just him flirting with me and I was being seen as a woman, not a valuable coworker.”