Perhaps, but I can say that I am over 40 and I can tell when the enthusiasm for my candidacy dies after they see my face that it's not due to anything but ageism.
and I'm in an underrepresented group, we all have the ability to conform our experiences to the reason that matches what other people say will limit our opportunities. It is equally important to weigh each experience against the similar experiences. I've seen plenty of linkedin posts and blogs about people bragging about their quests to get competing offers in tech, some interviewed at 60 companies and did 100 interviews, when my tolerance is 12 companies and maybe 15 interviews. Some did 700 hours of leetcode, where my tolerance is maybe 5 hours. The dataisbeautiful and some employment subreddits have flow charts that show similar quests to get an offer, visualizing how much rejection and time is used inefficiently.
Like I said, not to invalidate anything, these experiences are so common amongst the whole pool that it has to be weighed accordingly.
It wouldnt take me 700 hours to get familiar with all the abstract problems and concepts I’ll encounter, but it would take me a very long time to, and longer to synthesize solutions that are above average, and regurgitating that on the spot for an interview in a quicker time than other candidates.
Like I said, not to invalidate anything, these experiences are so common amongst the whole pool that it has to be weighed accordingly.