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From: tan@ihlpg.UUCP (Bill Tanenbaum)
Newsgroups: net.women,net.singles
Subject: Re: Prejudice in graduate school
Message-ID: <1690@ihlpg.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 8-Mar-86 00:54:44 EST
Article-I.D.: ihlpg.1690
Posted: Sat Mar  8 00:54:44 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 8-Mar-86 23:59:27 EST
References: <125@ttidcc.UUCP> <215@batcomputer.TN.CORNELL.EDU>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
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Xref: watmath net.women:9603 net.singles:10776

>  [Adrian Kent]
>      I've seen the phenomenenon Karen and Cheryl describe so often I'd almost
> say it's the norm. There's a world-famous theoretical physicist (you've 
> probably heard of him) who won't take women in his group because he believes
> they shouldn't do physics. I know others who say they find women 'distracting'
> in an academic environment, talk about their female students purely in terms
> their appearance, or simply refuse to take women in the subject seriously.
> I've seen a thoroughly competent woman physicist teased and ridiculed by men
> who didn't think she 'fitted in' and didn't want her to stay in the subject.
> Another man talked about a colleague's "personality, if women have a
> personality". In other subjects, several of my women friends have had great
> difficulty being taken seriously by their (mostly male) departments. They are
> typically brighter and more determined than their colleagues, who don't like
> this. And the strategy works: two or three of my friends are concluding that
> the game may not be worth the candle, and considering abandoning their
> subjects. 
>      Don't *necessarily* dismiss (your or others') suspicions as paranoia.
> In my experience, men are more prone to use this sort of tactic behind
> womens' backs than directly. 
------------
I spent 15 years as a physicist (grad student, post-doc, and faculty) at
three different institutions and I have NEVER heard any physicist, male
or female, make any of the comments Adrian describes or anything
remotely similar.  Anyone who did
so would have been (correctly) censured.  I'm sure there are some
Neanderthals out there, but "the norm".  Come on.  How about some names
and places.  I don't believe you.
-- 
Bill Tanenbaum - AT&T Bell Labs - Naperville IL  ihnp4!ihlpg!tan