I have a registered account with Stack Overflow, but I have never used it to ask a question myself. Mostly, I registered my account so I could help answer beginner JavaScript questions when I was a peer tutor in college. I have always been cautious to respond to any question I am not absolutely certain of the answer…mostly out of fear/avoidance of the “well actually”-ing you described appearing in the comments. When I joined Stack Overflow, I thought it was a place to share your ideas and attempts to improve the community’s knowledge of unique and intricate coding scenarios.

Unfortunately, I am not at all surprised by the outcome of Stack Overflow’s survey because it’s the same attitudes that have gradually pushed me away from using the site. It gives me hope to know there are other women out there with similar views.