It was meant to be per week for girls in tech—however this yr’s Grace Hopper Celebration was swamped by males who gate-crashed the occasion seeking profitable tech jobs.

The annual convention and profession honest aimed toward girls and non-binary tech staff, which takes its title from a pioneering pc scientist, passed off final week in Orlando, Florida. The occasion payments itself as the most important gathering of ladies in tech worldwide, and has sought to unite girls within the tech trade for practically 30 years. Sponsors embody Apple, Amazon, and Bloomberg, and it’s a significant networking alternative for aspiring tech staff. In-person admission prices between $649 and round $1,300.

This yr, droves of males confirmed up with résumés in hand. AnitaB.org, the nonprofit that runs the convention, mentioned there was “a rise in participation of self-identifying males” at this yr’s occasion. The nonprofit says it believes allyship from males is essential, and famous it can not ban males from attending because of federal nondiscrimination protections within the US.

Organizers expressed frustration. Previous iterations of the convention have “all the time felt protected and loving and embracing,” mentioned Bo Younger Lee, president of advisory at AnitaB.org, in a LinkedIn submit. “And this yr, I need to admit, I didn’t really feel this fashion.”

Cullen White, AnitaB.org’s chief influence officer, mentioned in a video posted to X, previously Twitter, that some registrants had lied about their gender id when signing up, and males had been now taking over house and time with recruiters that ought to go to girls. “All of these are restricted assets to which you don’t have any proper,” White mentioned. AnitaB.org didn’t reply to a request for remark.

Tech jobs, as soon as a reasonably protected and profitable wager, have develop into extra elusive. In 2022 and 2023, tech corporations around the globe laid off greater than 400,000 staff, in accordance with Layoffs.fyi, a web site that tracks job losses throughout the trade. Tens of hundreds of these cuts have come from enormous employers like Meta and Amazon, and a few companies have instituted hiring freezes. The layoffs have been notably brutal for immigrant staff, who’ve been left scrambling for sponsorship within the US after dropping work.

The controversy on the Grace Hopper Celebration reveals the fallout of these job losses, as girls and non-binary individuals nonetheless battle to search out equal footing in an trade dominated by males. Ladies made up only a third of these working in STEM jobs as of 2021, in accordance with the US Nationwide Heart for Science and Engineering Statistics.

As job cuts chew, all potential tech staff have develop into extra determined for alternatives. In the course of the convention, movies posted to TikTok confirmed a sea of males ready in line to enter the convention or communicate with recruiters within the expo corridor. Women and men are seen working into the expo as a staffer yells for them to decelerate.

Avni Barman, the founding father of female-talent targeted media platform Gen She, says she instantly observed “tons” extra males and a extra chaotic scene this time in comparison with earlier years.

Barman was on the convention to host a meet-up. Throughout and after the convention, she heard from a variety of girls who had been unhappy and pissed off after. “This can be a convention for girls and non-binary individuals,” Barman says.

Nelly Azar, a pupil at The Ohio State College finding out pc science and engineering, attended the convention and noticed lengthy traces of individuals ready to talk to employers. That was solely completely different from 2022, they are saying, once they attended and noticed few males.

Azar says they may speak to solely two of the businesses they had been concerned with as a result of others had been inundated with candidates. Lengthy traces zigzagged outdoors the doorway to the occasion’s expo corridor. The frustration was palpable. This yr’s convention reveals “not solely how fragile our areas are, however why we want them greater than ever,” Azar says. “Now is among the most essential occasions to advocate for gender fairness.”