While I've had a lifetime of negation re my scholarly topics (STEM) it's only the last few years I've heard truly ugly comments from a few men but from far more women about scholarship and higher ed for women. Anyone else experiencing this? Why from so many women do you think?

Please never let that crap in. Experience, integrity, work ethic and performance are the measure. Formal education has many advantages if we use them. It is no measure of a person's applied skills however.