[throwaway26960]

Because women are smart. The women I've worked with claim ignorance to programming, have no desire to learn programming, and give me a mile high task list of things to do. Then they take all the credit for my work while I'm being worked to the bone. I burn out and quit while they hire the next fresh programmer ready to accept work.

I've tried teaching employees to program, but when they realized how much painful/frustrating work they can now accept with this fresh new skill, they immediately stop learning how to program. Easier to give me all the work.

[analog31]

Become a manager and play the same game. But seriously, it may be a function of your workplace culture. Where I work, the programmers have a typical 8 hour work day, and their managers are very protective of their time. In fact, if I need some programming work done, I have to do it myself, even though I'm supposedly not employed as a programmer.

Another option is to find a role where you use your programming skill, but you're not developing software for someone. That's my case. My title is "scientist," and truth be told, I spend a considerable portion of my day programming, but I'm using code to solve problems, and my code will never be used by a customer.