Not saying that I want to go full-corpo, but the idea of getting ahead in a career is really appealing to me. I feel stuck in my job I have now because there’s not much chance of advancement and the hours are really inconsistent. I’ve been considering going back to college to pursue something that would allow me to have a stable income. To tell you the truth, I’m jealous of the memes about trans girls being software engineers. I want to be one too. I would definitely make a lot more than I’m making right now. It’s also the job my dad has, and I was curious about what it would be like as a career when I was younger. All the layoffs were really what scared me away from it, but I’m not in a much better situation right now. I just don’t really know of any trans guys that are in professional positions like that. I don’t know if there’s a reason for it, or if the guys that do get ahead like that just go stealth.
I’m a trans guy working as a professional software eng, and yeah, I’m stealth.
I’m sorry I (and presumably many others) don’t act as real life representation save for these online spaces! I promise you we are out there, and being trans doesn’t have to be a barrier.
I don’t think I’d be in hot water if I came out or anything either; I just work at a company that is largely older and conservative so I’m just personally being extra cautious in not wanting to add any unnecessary social tension.
Note: I’m writing from an American perspective - sorry if this doesn’t apply to your situation.
I know this is literally a 3 month old post but: I’m a transman programmer. I’m still at the job I initially came out at, and things are great - everyone uses my correct name and pronouns. It’s been two years since I came out at work and I’ve been here seven years. Higher Ed seems to be a very good place for transpeople right now, particularly private sector higher ed. Public higher ed can be dicey depending on your state - there’s talks of banning transpeople from working with children in my state, but that would only apply to public.
The other posters already covered a lot of reasons you might not see a lot of visible FTM men in tech, but an additional one is that our…uh…background tends to push people like us away from tech. At least in the US, there’s still a major gender gap in how science and especially tech are taught. I was lucky to get into a lot of girl exclusive science camps, which helped prepare me for being the only “girl” in non-gender-specific camps. I was the only person of my gender to attend the robotics camp that launched my love of programming for the 6 years I attended, and once I hit college, there were only two girls (including me) in my entire computer science program. Then you figure that a small percentage of AFAB people end up being transmen, and we end up being a minority of a minority.
Additionally, anecdotally, at least in my area, FTM individuals tend to be poorer and/or from poorer families than MTF individuals. That can lead to a big gap in professionals, because it can take a lot of money, sanity and support to get started.
I don’t think any of those are reasons to be scared of going into tech - it’s not like it’s an awful death trap and that’s why everyone avoids it. It’s just a leftover product of societal norms that are slowly changing.
I’m cis so I obviously have never had to contend with whether my field of interest represents me but, the way I see it, part of the reason you see the “trans girl software engineer” meme is that software engineering is one of those fields where for the most part, if you have the skills and you produce good work, then you belong. I think if you want to be a software engineer, you should go for it, and don’t let a perceived lack of representation put you off of it. <3
Keep in mind plenty of people struggle to get the jobs they want, regardless of gender identity, sexuality, etc.
I felt completely stuck in my job and returned to school to do CS and now work as a software engineer. It’s never too late, I was in my 30s. If you choose to pursue it do it for the right reasons. Sit down and start to learn a bit of code if you don’t already know how to do some basic stuff. It’s not for everyone that’s for sure. If you have any questions about school as an adult I would be happy to answer. The other poster who said “it’s more about producing good work” is exactly right. good luck
