My background is in life sciences research, and I chose to pursue an idealistic career in global health. I wanted to tackle big problems like neglected tropical diseases and chronic conditions like obesity. I accept the situation probably owes something to COVID-19, but months upon months of failed job applications have shown a consistent pattern -- I am being passed over to hire female candidates, and am rarely even contacted to interview anymore.

I know this because I have had multiple peers, colleagues, and mentors review my CV -- all have told me it is top notch. I put a similar effort into motivation statements, and even have recommendation letters from previous supervisors.

I live in a country where it's common practice to e-mail all candidates saying, "X has been hired to this position". A quick search will usually lead me to find the LinkedIn of X -- invariably a young woman with fewer qualifications and a half-assed profile page.

I am kicking myself, as two years ago I was offered maybe the only decently paid job of my life in the private sector. It was an uninspiring job, and came with all trappings of corporate life, but at least I might have had the chance of being valued for my technical skills rather than whether my face fits.

Now I am beginning to understand why it is I was being pressured into a technical career from the beginning -- it's not because men can't be social scientists, carers, copywriters, artists, charity workers, academics, or whatever else. It's because these fields are now explicitly hiring women and "minority" groups, and I am getting the impression I am simply not welcome there. The message on the wall is, "You're a man, you're capable of doing the technical jobs, you don't belong in a cushy environment like this".

I feel deeply regretful now. Only a privileged few can turn their passions into careers, it seems, and even then only with financial backing and support.

I'm already planning a pivot into another field... it's just a disheartening realisation that I won't be able to have the kind of career I've always dreamed of. No one is interested in my opinions or real views, I won't be able to express any of my personality or self in my work. Apparently, my job will always just be an exchange of labour for money. Right now, those kinds of positions are the sole reserve of middle class people with connections and those groups currently favoured in the hiring process -- my views do not matter.

I never wanted to be a programmer or a pure number-cruncher, but is there honestly anything else young men are valued for, nowadays?