  The intersection of ageism and sexism can create a hostile environment for
veteran software developers belonging to marginalized genders. In this study,
we conducted 14 interviews to examine the experiences of people at this
intersection, primarily women, in order to discover the strategies they
employed in order to successfully remain in the field. We identified 283 codes,
which fell into three main categories: Strategies, Experiences, and Perception.
Several strategies we identified, such as (Deliberately) Not Trying to Look
Younger, were not previously described in the software engineering literature.
We found that, in some companies, older women developers are recognized as
having particular value, further strengthening the known benefits of diversity
in the workforce. Based on the experiences and strategies, we suggest
organizations employing software developers to consider the benefits of hiring
veteran women software developers. For example, companies can draw upon the
life experiences of older women developers in order to better understand the
needs of customers from a similar demographic. While we recognize that many of
the strategies employed by our study participants are a response to systemic
issues, we still consider that, in the short-term, there is benefit in
describing these strategies for developers who are experiencing such issues
today.
