They told me that, as a woman, I'd never get into graduate school in physics, so they got me a job as a secretary at the College of Physicians and Surgeons and promised that, if I were a good girl, I would take courses there.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the gender biases faced by women in academia, particularly in fields like physics.
Rosalyn Sussman Yalow's quote reflects on the systemic barriers women encountered, especially in the sciences. Despite being discouraged from pursuing graduate studies in physics, her journey illustrates the complexities of societal expectations and the potential paths available to women in academia. Yalow's experience underscores both the challenges women face in traditionally male-dominated fields and the importance of perseverance and determination in overcoming obstacles.
In practice
This quote can inspire a women's empowerment event.
The only difference between men and women in science is that the women have the babies. This makes it more difficult for women in science but should not be seen as a barrier, for it is merely another challenge to be overcome.
We still live in a world in which a significant fraction of people, including women, believe that a woman belongs and wants to belong exclusively in the home.
We bequeath to you, the next generation, our knowledge but also our problems. While we still live, let us join hands, hearts and minds to work together for their solution so that your world will be better than ours and the world of your children even better.
The failure of women to have reached positions of leadership has been due in large part to social and professional discrimination.
I feel it is now my duty to speak to young women, to encourage them to have careers and, particularly, careers in science.
I wasn't handed college or graduate school or anything else on a silver platter. I had to work very hard, but I did it because I wanted to. That's the real key to happiness. I think unhappy people are those who feel that circumstances are forcing them into a pattern. Happy people are not slaves to the system.
The task of a university is the creation of the future, so far as rational thought and civilized modes of appreciation can affect the issue.
Like all readers, I want my limits to be drawn by my own sensibilities, not by my melanin count.
By being so long in the lowest form [at Harrow] I gained an immense advantage over the cleverer boys. . . . I got into my bones the essential structure of the ordinary British sentence - which is a noble thing. Naturally I am biased in favor of boys learning English; I would make them all learn English: and then I would let the clever ones learn Latin as an honor, and Greek as a treat.
What is learned on the athletic field is not forgotten, nor are the lessons of character that are forged there ever lost. Consider the contributions in the field of public life, business, law, medicine, and the military of those who actively participated in athletics.
From a cognitive standpoint, I'm very aware that you have no room for error in a picture book. Every word counts.
There are very many people who read simply to prevent themselves from thinking.
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