She never knew whether it was her turn or not, the game was in such confusion --- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland.
Unfortunately, many attempts to encourage women in male-dominated fields at least partially backfire. Specifically, special treatment can imply, in a number of ways, that women cannot compete with men. Also, programs implemented to ensure equal opportunity often get misrepresented as having lower standards for select groups. Additionally, consciousness-raising can lead to hypersensitivity and false accusations, which then causes falsely-accused males to be skeptical of women's claims.