spondees:

madscientista:

adventuresinchemistry:

adventuresinchemistry:

i constantly hear people talk about male scientists (particularly professors) in terms of their sheer intelligence and how they’re on another level and just super smart and blah blah blah but I don’t think I’ve ever heard a woman scientist described in those terms, even ones who have pushed their fields forward immensely

like in general I don’t think I’ve ever heard a woman described as a genius

Same! And I frequently hear women described as “sweet” in professional settings. Like… yeah, ok, but what does that tell me about her research? And why do you choose to tell me that about her but when you talk about men you say things like “He discovered X,” or “His work is on Y.” Like I’ve heard women who are incredible pioneers in their field described as sweet as if it’s the be-all end-all of their personal and professional qualifications and at this point, I don’t want to hear anyone referring to any women in professional situations as sweet even if they’re just describing personalities in general.

THERE’S A TOOL FOR THIS: http://benschmidt.org/profGender/

You can type in any word, and see a chart of how often that particular word shows up in student evaluations for male/female professors, by field. The charts for “genius,” “brilliant,” and “sweet” are unsurprising, and sad. 

see genius: 

on a related note, I read a study recently about how perceptions of genius keep women and people of color out of fields that are associated with innate brilliance. the article is here but it’s behind a paywall, I think. the main takeaway though, is that: “women are underrepresented in fields whose practitioners believe that raw, innate talent is the main requirement for success, because women are stereotyped as not possessing such talent. This hypothesis extends to African Americans’ underrepresentation as well, as this group is subject to similar stereotypes”

as illustrated by this handy chart: 

so, good job, academia.