The Only Woman in the Room

Posted on 20 July 2018 by Eileen Pollack

A bracingly honest exploration of why there are still so few women in the hard sciences, mathematics, engineering, and computer scienceIn 2005, when Lawrence Summers, then president of Harvard, asked why so few women achieve tenured positions in the hard sciences, Eileen Pollack set out to find the answer In the 1970s, Pollack had excelled as one of Yale s first two women to earn a bachelor of science degree in physics But, isolated, lacking in confidence, and starved for encouragement, she abandoned her lifelong dream of becoming a theoretical physicist Years later, she thought back on her experiences and wondered what had changed in the intervening decades, and what challenges remained Based on six years of interviewing dozens of teachers and students and reviewing studies on gender bias, The Only Woman in the Room is an illuminating exploration of the cultural, social, psychological, and institutional barriers confronting women in the STEM disciplines Pollack brings to light the struggles that women in the sciences are often hesitant to admit and provides hope that changing attitudes and behaviors can bring women into fields in which they remain, to this day, seriously underrepresented.Eileen Pollack is the author of the novels Breaking and Entering a New York Times Editor s Choice selection and Paradise, New York, as well as two collections of short fiction, an award winning book of nonfiction, and two creative nonfiction textbooks Her work has appeared in Best American Essays and Best American Short Stories She is a professor on the faculty of the Helen Zell MFA Program in Creative Writing at the University of Michigan She divides her time between Manhattan and Ann Arbor, Michigan. Best Download [ The Only Woman in the Room ] Author [ Eileen Pollack ] – kino-fada.fr I won this book from LibraryThing in exchange for an honest review When it arrived, I had a sudden crisis of doubt Why had I thought I wanted to read this Was I interested a book about women in the sciences or math What did that have to do with me Would it, like another currently popular book, claim that all women needed to do was beaggressive,committed As it turned out, I loved this book, disturbing as it is in many ways It is a fascinating look, through examining the autho I won this book from LibraryThing in exchange for an honest review When it arrived, I had a sudden crisis of doubt Why had I thought I want...Originally posted at Musings of an Incurable BookwormI m feeling conflicted about this book I honestly think that if I d had aclear picture of what the book was about going into it I might not feel as disappointed as I do Then again, I also probably wouldn t have requested or read it in the first place.I ll start with the things that I liked, which was basically the final third of the book I appreciated hearing from other women struggling to survive in the sciences, especially the voice Originally posted at Musings of an Incurable BookwormI m feeling conflicted about this book I honestly think that if I d had aclear picture of what the book was about going into it I might not feel as disappointed as I do Then again, I also probably wouldn t have requested or read it in the first place.I ll start with the things that I liked, which was basically the final third of the book I appreciated hearing from other women struggling to survive in the sciences, especially the voices of women who ...Um exerc cio de empatia, em um livro que recomendo para qualquer aluno de cursos cient ficos, cientista ou professor, de ambos os sexos Uma auto biografia da Eileen Pollack contando como ela cursou f sica em Yale na d cada de 70, o que passou para chegar l e o que a fez se decidir por seguir a carreira de escritora e professora de ingl s, ao inv s da carreira cient fica Com uma s rie de situa es onde ela claramente tratada de fo...The last third of this book wasor less what I was hoping the whole book would be It s an overview and dicussion of the different theories as to why there is still a lack of women in some STEM fields The author s focus is on the upper echelons of academia I m afraid that the fact that I have a tenure track physics professorship would not interest her She is mainly concerned about Harvard and her alma mater, Yale, and she shares the elitism of her home institution But she has heard fr The last third of this book wasor less what I was hoping the whole book would be It s an overview and dicussion of the different theories as to why there is still a lack of women in some STEM fields The author s ...I m still collecting my thoughts on this I could relate to the author s experience eerily well She studied physics in Yale in 1980s, and was the only or one of the few women woman in the room in a lot of classes that she took In this book she looks at her experience before and during her studies at Yale.Some of the things she brought out in her book were, that women might needencouragement than men to study or keep studying a STEM field There is a group of people who are encouraged t I m still collecting my thoughts on this I could relate to the author s experience eerily well She studied physics in Yale in 1980s, and was the only or one of the few women woman in the room in a lot of classes that she took In this book she looks at her experience before and during her studies at Yale.Some of the things she brought out in her book were, that women might needencouragement than men to study or keep studying a STEM field There is a group of people who are encouraged to study science just from the example of history of...Truly painful to read, and not in a good way In the 70 s, the author was one of the only two female undergrads in her class to receive a BS in physics at Yale She relates to the reader how she had endured both overt and micro aggressions to a degree unheard of today, quoting statements like Even at Yale, the boys won t date a physics major or We all know one cannot be both sexy and smart Unfortunately, the author seems to have even internalized the misogyny that she writes about I shu Truly painful to read, and not in a good way In the 70 s, the author was one of the only two female undergrads in her class to receive a BS in physics at Yale She relates to the reader how she had endured both overt and micro aggressions to a degree unhe...As other reviewers have said here, the title is terribly misleading The Only Woman in the Room Why Science is still a Boy s Club implies 1 that this is a dissertation of some sort 2 that the author is a woman and still works in a science field None of that is true.This was a very personal read as I continue, I can easily see myself in it And even though my mind has been filled with the don t complain and work hard mentality as an immigrant, it s impossible not to acknowledge that sex As other reviewers have said here, the title is terribly misleading The Only Woman in the Room Why Science is still a Boy s Club implies 1 that this is a dissertation of some sort 2 that the author is a woman and still works in a science field None of that is true.This was a very personal read as I continue, I can easily see myself in it And even though my mind has been filled with the don t complain and work hard mentality as an immigrant, it s impossible not to acknowledge that sexism exists, particularly in male domi...I can t wait to share this book with friends and students and colleagues Eileen Pollack, who has written a number of remarkable books of fiction and nonfiction, has taken her experience as a math science whiz who was regularly discouraged from pursuing her intellectual dreams and spun them into true, and poignant, cultural gold Much of the book tracks Pollack s personal trials and tribulations with honesty and sharp humor Women who have worked in the world of men in any capacity, whether as s I can t wait to share this book with friends and students and colleagues Eileen Pollack, who has written a number of remarkable books of fiction and nonfiction, has taken her experience as a math science whiz who was regularly discouraged from pursuing her intellectual dreams and spun them into true, and poignant, cultural gold Much of the book track...I established when I was 7 years old that since my test scores on the state s standardized testing weren t high for math, I felt that it was eliminated before any interests even began because I wasn t good at it Fast forward to the age of 12 and the theory behind conceptual math learning and I was completely lost with the yellow cubes and bars in front of me The instructions from the teacher did not make sense and because of so...Summary I found some of the author s anecdotes moving, but I was disappointed this wasn t aresearch based exploration of the problem.Although author Eileen Pollack was one of the first women to graduate from Yale with a BS in physics, she decided to pursue her love of writing instead of going on to get her PhD Decades later, she decided to explore why so many women drop out of math, science, and engineering at every level of achievement She briefly discusses some studies on women in sci Summary I found...

English
20 July 2018

Eileen Pollack