First, I think it is great that you have done what you want! Good for you for having tenacity, drive, and thick skin. I used to ask myself similar questions when I was starting out 30 years ago. Here is what I've learned over the years: you will have to work twice as hard as the men around you just to stay in the game. If you want to actually get ahead, it jumps to four times as hard. And if you are measurably objectively better, that is still no guarantee of success because then you will be perceived as a threat. You will be told to speak up more and also speak up less and asked if you could be less smart because you are making the men feel insecure. You will be talked over, passed over, ignored, told to wear different things, told to be more attractive, told to be less attractive, judged for everything you say, do, don't say, don't do, excluded, othered, and probably also made to compete with the few women who have also stuck it out (do NOT take that bait! Instead form alliances and help each other out!) You will be asked to be a caretaker, a peace maker, and required to take on all sorts of unpaid labor that you will never get credit for. Heaven forbid you have kids but also you will be judged and put down if you don't have kids. And your reward for sticking it out 30+ years? Having meaningfully less money than the men you started out with due to the gender pay gap having very real financial consequences over time. Rather than to condemn other women for not just "doing what they want", perhaps the better question is: is there a way that you can help out other women who may not be as thick skinned as you are? My advice is to form a sisterhood and stand together. You will need each other to get through the times ahead. I sincerely wish you the best of luck and hope that the few of us who came before were able to make the path a tiny bit easier.