I am not surprised at all since I heard some of the same statements when I was training software developers.

The best that I trained were women. One said that she learned more from me in two months than in the prior year and a half, which included a 6-week programmer boot camp. I wondered about her teachers.

The worst were men. I had 2 fired — one was too arrogant and one was too stupid.

To demonstrate my approach: one woman said, “Bill, did you know that I am Hispanic?”

Me: “No, is that supposed to make some sort of difference?”
Her: “Yes, to some people.”
Me: “Not to me. All I care about is that your programs work.”

That is the way that things should be about everything.