One woman described her all-girls' high school and the stereotyping that its all-female staff passed on to their students: ``My math teacher, who had a master's degree in mathematics, advised me against majoring in math in college, saying the subject was too difficult for girls.''
Another woman commented, ``My graduating class in undergraduate school had 300 men and three women. This environment taught me to be independent and stand up for myself. Since gender discrimination, when present, was rather open, I could talk about it to my teachers and argue that I ought to be given a chance. Most of them reconciled themselves to the situation (which broke their stereotype of women) by not acknowledging the fact that I was a woman. I was promoted to being an `honorary man.'''
Another talked about the stereotype she was subjected to while in graduate school. ``I had this `Mom' feeling, that I didn't belong there. Three of us were in our 30s with children. Most of the others were younger, with no families. My adviser called me `Mom' the whole time I was there. And people tended not to talk to me about substantive issues when I had to have my baby with me at school.''
Another said, ``I cannot remember receiving support from anyone as a student. In fact I remember quite the opposite - discouragement. About half way through my PhD, I became pregnant - obviously not a common occurrence among my costudents, who were all male, or the all-male faculty. They assumed I would drop out of the program. I also had little support from my family, none of whom had gone through college and could not understand my desire to continue my education. Fortunately, I try all the harder when people assume I cannot do something.''