22/04/2026
Engineer Calls Herself The “Token Girl” At Recruiting Event, HR Freaks Out After She Says The Quiet Part Out Loud
See the bottom for an update...
I work at a tech company. I'm one of two women in a technical role, and the other is very introverted and wouldn't be great at recruiting. So every time there's a recruiting event, I get volun-told for it. It was especially frustrating and for me because my whole team is under crunch time and a day I spend recruiting is a day I have to make up later.
I was at a recruiting event at a local college, and a young woman who was thinking of applying asked how the diversity at my company was, it looked good from our panel and promotional materials. (Side note... Almost every person of color, woman, or q***r presenting person on the promo materials has either quit or never worked there in the first place)
I answered honestly in front of a small group "Well, there are two women in technical roles, and as one of them it sometimes feels like working two jobs. One as an engineer, and one as the 'token girl engineer' who gets pulled away from work for every photo op, or recruiting event. Honestly, if you like being a trailblazer and are prepared to take on the extra unspoken PR as the "girl engineer', you might find a role here fulfilling, but if you prefer keeping your head down to focus on the technical side, it is easier to do that at a company where there is more gender and racial diversity.
She appreciated my honestly but the manager who was running the event told me to leave. I have a meeting with HR and my manager tomorrow. I don't think my opinion will be any news to them as I've already told them I'm not interested in being assigned to photo ops or recruiting disproportionately because of my gender, and I've been told that it's "important" for me to be there to help recruit a more diverse staff since the company is trying to improve.
I feel like they're mad that I said the quiet part...