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From: k@mit-eddie.MIT.EDU (Kathy Wienhold)
Newsgroups: net.women,net.singles
Subject: Re: Prejudice in graduate school
Message-ID: <1306@mit-eddie.MIT.EDU>
Date: Mon, 17-Mar-86 17:20:41 EST
Article-I.D.: mit-eddi.1306
Posted: Mon Mar 17 17:20:41 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 22-Mar-86 01:41:54 EST
References: <125@ttidcc.UUCP> <6807@tektronix.UUCP>
Reply-To: k@mit-eddie.UUCP (Kathy Wienhold)
Organization: MIT, EE/CS Computer Facilities, Cambridge, MA
Lines: 92
Xref: watmath net.women:9798 net.singles:11069
Summary: The MIT CS experience as Substantiation

In article <6807@tektronix.UUCP> moiram@tektronix.UUCP 
(Moira Mallison ) writes:
>In article <1690@ihlpg.UUCP> tan@ihlpg.UUCP (Bill Tanenbaum) writes:
>>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.
>
>Does anyone have handy the report done at MIT a few years ago?  
>(Karen, are you still on the net?) My copy is filed away somewhere; 
>I'll look for it if someone else doesn't post the info in the next few
>days.
>
The report was done in February of 1983, titled, "Barriers to Equality in 
Academia:  Women in Computer Science at MIT."  Selected quotes, and
principle conclusions follow.

Quotes:

"When I was a teaching assistant, one of my students missed the lecture
and saw me later.  He said, 'Will you come sit on my lap sometime and
tell me what I missed?'"

"During a grades assignment meeting, a professor decided to give a
borderline student the higher grade because she was 'cute.'  When I
suggested that this was not a relevant basis for grading, another staff
member chimed in, 'Yeah, she's not that cute.'"

"Why do you need a degree for marriage?" -- a male colleague

"Jane came here only to get married."  -- a male graduate student

"What's an attractive girl like you doing in a place like this?"  -- a
male colleague

"Jane flirts to get whatever she wants."

"You got into graduate school because the Area needs more women."

"You got into graduate school because Professor Jones is in love with
you."

"A male graduate student said, 'The problem with this place is that
there aren't enough attractive, available female graduate students.'
Enough for what?  I'm not here to be attractive and available."

"While talking with a male colleague in my office, he suddenly placed
his hand on my breast and said he liked me."


There are literally pages more of this.  The report reached the
following conclusions (with gross quantities of evidence to back them up
- the above is only a small sample):

1.  Although not a generally accepted fact, the women here are as
qualified as the men.  In order to realize their potential, women must
be given the same opportunities as men to participate in and benefit
from all aspects of the professional community.

2.  Many individuals in the community, either consciously or
subconsciously, have expectations of women that are different from their
expectations of men.

3.  Pervasive subtle discrimination can do as much damage as, if not
more damage than, isolated incidents of overt discrimination.

4.  An uncomfortable social atmosphere interferes with a woman's ability
to work productively.

5.  Responsibility for change rests with the entire community, not just
with the women.

6.  Many problems would be alleviated by increasing the number of women.

In short, Bill, you're wrong.  Discrimination exists in both blatant and
subtle forms to this day.  It should be noted, in all fairness to MIT,
that since 1983, the department has gotten noticeably better in many
respects, and people much more awareness of the problem.  But while
blatant sexism (as demonstrated by the above remarks) is much less
frequent, the subtle, pervasive kind of simply treating women as "less
than a true colleague" still exists.

Copies of the report can be obtained from the MIT Laboratory for Computer
Science and the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Building NE43, MIT,
Cambridge, MA 02139, for some fee or other.

				~Kathy
				(mail to k@mit-eddie.UUCP
				 or kay@MIT-XX.ARPA)