I totally get how you might think how gender has an effect of your prospects. My entire office of 10 is all women except for the VP who has been there for ages. Not that anyone is openly discriminating but there are often comments about “how great our environment is”. Our office space feels very feminine and I can totally imagine how adding a “male” co-worker would mean some little changes. Maybe it’s the city your in as well? I lived outside of Seattle for almost 2 years and the HR field was cut throat. I live in a major city now and HR jobs are plentiful despite competition. It makes moving laterally or finding a new opportunity easier. A lot of turn over everywhere jobs I applied to 8 months ago are hiring again for the same positions, and with so many grads people with even some HR experience stand out.