A female astrophysicist's experience at airport security inspired a discussion about gender bias

A female astrophysicist who shared a story about a man who was rude to her for carrying two laptops at the airport has ignited a discussion about gender bias.

Amber Roberts is an astrophysicist and an artificial intelligence program director.

She decided to share an interaction she had with a man at airport security when she was travelling.

Taking to Twitter, she wrote:

*I take out both of my laptops at airport security* Random guy: *scoffs* “What do you need 2 laptops for?” Me: “Well one is for my astrophysics work and one is for my artificial intelligence work.” #priceless #WomenInSTEM #womenintech #ai #GirlBoss​

The tweet received hundreds of thousands of likes and began to trend on Reddit, where it ended up on a forum about gender bias in tech industries.

Robert followed up her initial tweet with a thread about gender bias.

“I am now trending on r/Iamverysmart,” she began.

If anyone is curious as to why women might feel unwelcome in tech, check it out. To be clear about the guy asking about my laptops he was talking down to me using a patronizing voice, he also asked twice believing I owed him an explanation.

Men and women weighed in on the issue on Twitter.

Some men debated about whether it was a gender issue or simply that two laptops appear strange.

Others are inspired by Roberts to study.

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