Hey - So in the UK it's a bit different. I initially went for an open day for the university I attended with my girlfriend (who was already doing a different degree), and the lecturer touring us around the facillities was really keen on encouraging her; despite the fact that she didnt ask, while just giving brief responses to the guys.

He also told her that tuition fees would be halved for her, and the grants for WIT in the UK would have made it almost free to go. I'm all for encouraging women in tech but it was a bit insulting to think that because I have a penis I have to pay for university.

On top of this, tours to JLR and Rolls Royce exculsively for women and BME students; nothing for white guys, and in order to make up for the gender gap, women got special time slots with the people who arranged intersnips on campus.

Now I personally don't mind this all that much. Affirmative action is a positive thing if used correctly. But some of the other people on our course were very upset by this, and it built resentment between the genders. Understandably.

On top of this, whenever you do something as difficult as an engineering degree, people start to feel like they arent enough. The work is too tough, the hours are too long and they cant understand what it seems like others pick up easilly. They cling to anything at all that allows them to say 'it's not my fault, I'm still good enough, something external is stopping me' - and affirmative action is an easy target for that mindset.

With all that said, it's a hard life for women in engineering. I think most people understood that. Most engineers have almost zero social skills, and some treat women like garbage because of that. Women arent respected in tech; because theyre too rare. I think the biggest part of it that almost every interaction the women on our course had with others was weirdly tinged with sexuality that made things really awkward

Sorry for the wall of text, and good luck with your engineering career.