Engineer Calls Her Employer Out at Recruiting Event For Using Her as the "Token Girl"

Brad Dickson • Managing Editor

Mar 9, 2022 9:00 PM EST

This story was shared to Reddit's r/AmItheA**hole subreddit by u/tokengirlengineer, one of two women currently working in a technical role at the tech company she works at.

This female tech engineer often found herself being rolled out to recruiting events as the "token girl engineer." When a young woman asked her what the diversity at the company was like, she was honest with her answer.

This honesty has landed her in a lot of hot water with her company, who didn't like her saying the quiet parts out loud.

She posted the story to the popular subreddit to get other people's opinions on whether or not what she said was wrong, making her the 'a-hole' in the situation.

I think it's pretty evident that this isn't something that you should say in the earshot of a manager. Nobody will ever like when you say the quiet parts out loud, and most companies, and people, are notoriously poor at taking criticism.

That being said, I have trouble faulting her for her words. These things must be brought to light to create change. Maybe she could have been more tactful and had more significant results in influencing change if she had had a private conversation with her employer and let them know that they needed to walk the walk if they were going to talk the talk. By that, I mean actively making an effort to hire more women.

Thumbnail Image: ThisisEngineering RAEng

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AITA for saying at a recruiting event, that I am trotted out as the token 'girl engineer' for every recruiting event?

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