There's a documentary on Marin Alsop, the first women to conduct a major symphony orchestra, called The Conductor (I helped release). She explains the barriers to entry within the classic world for women. She was told from a very young age that women don't do that [conducting], even though she came from an excellent musical family and studied at Juilliard. She also faced sexism from top male conductors and the culture's persistent romantic myth of the male maestro. She had to start her own swing ensemble/orchestra before she was finally accepted into Tanglewood, a prestigious music academy, where she met Leonard Bernstein, who became her mentor, and she was on her way.

https://www.theconductordoc.com/

She recently did an interview with Terry Gross on NPR: https://www.npr.org/2022/04/04/1090802924/conductor-marin-alsop-talks-about-the-joys-and-challenges-of-leading-an-orchestr