When the Massachusetts Institute of Technology admitted in 1999 that they had discriminated against women on its faculty, it sent shockwaves throughout institutions of higher learning across the country. In this TPWKY book club episode, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Kate Zernike joins us to discuss her book The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in Science, which details the sequence of events that led sixteen scientists to demand the equality that had been denied to them for so long. Zernike, who was one of the reporters to break the story in 1999, centers this story on molecular biologist Dr. Nancy Hopkins, who, armed with a tape measure, brought this history of marginalization to light. Simultaneously personal and panoramic, The Exceptions carefully illustrates the sexism entrenched in higher education and academia and sends an important message: this problem is far from solved. Tune in for a fascinating discussion about an infuriating topic.
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2 thoughts on “Special Episode: Kate Zernike & The Exceptions”
When I became an ICU nurse in 1982, I met a Pediatric Cardiologist – this was the first female physician I’d ever encountered. I really had no idea women could become doctors prior to that moment. Within a few years, I realized I was as smart as the Residents. Long story short, started Med School in 1990. Everything mentioned in this episode still happens today in Medicine: pay disparities, marginalization, gaslighting, etc. The stories I could tell……
I got my bachelor’s degree in physics in 1976. I was the second woman to graduate from the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Engineering School in 1978. By 1984, I had fled texh and aerospace and spent 30 years as a home based seamstress.
I wasn’t eased put, I was driven out, but it has taken almost 50 years for me to realize that it was not my failure, it was institutional discrimination. Discussions and books like this one are so important for young women today to avoid the low self esteem and depression that I battled. They are also very healing for us older women to finally recognize the reframing of our experiences and public discussions of them. I don’t know how to convey how much this meant to me to hear this. Thank you!