>Well...that and statistics.

Which are only tangentially related. The contention is there aren't more women in tech because sexism. But there are no statistics that bear on that question directly. All we can say is there aren't a lot of women in tech. But there aren't a lot of women in tech in college, either, despite campaigns to attract them. Like that nonsense "77 cents" statistic, it may be women simply make life choices that don't put them in tech.

None of the women in my graduating class lasted as engineers for more than a handful of years, preferring to go into sales or management instead. When I asked why they said they couldn't stand the lack of human interaction, something that doesn't bother me in the slightest. Maybe... maybe, and I'm just spitballing here... maybe men and women don't have exactly the same motivations, desires, and tolerances.

>But even without statistics, if a group of people say they feel unwelcome and another group says "no you're welcome", is your conclusion that the environment is welcoming to the former group?

You can't assume anything either way. It's a mistake to think you can divine what other people are thinking unless they tell you. If I don't offer a woman a job it's because there was someone else that was a better fit. If she goes away thinking she didn't get it because she's a woman, well, who's in the wrong here?

But the entire focus of the argument is wrong. Nobody went out of his way to make me or any other man "feel welcome". It's a job, not a Christmas party. You match your skills against what employers need and come to an arrangement. If you're such a wilting flower that some nebulous "not feeling welcome" is enough to keep you out of the industry, how can you possibly deal with problems on the job?