How I Dealt With Sexism in 1988
After graduating from MIT, I didn’t expect what happened
I got my engineering degree from MIT in 1988. I spent a summer volunteering because I wanted to serve others before I started working full time. I figured once I began at my new position, I’d be too busy.
So color me surprised by what happened at my first job.
First of all, it was in the tiny town of Liberty, South Carolina.
I grew up in New York City. I considered Boston a cow town in comparison. NOTHING had prepared me for Liberty. It had maybe 18 houses in addition to a greasy spoon, a bank, a Hardees, a gas station, and the plant where I worked.
I did not live in Liberty. I lived in Clemson. If you follow college football (I never did) that might mean something to you.
At any rate, I grew up and went to school in environments where yes, there was sexism, but there were also high-achieving women and girls who were breaking barriers. When I worked at the MIT AI lab for a short time, I got to know Anita Flynn who has gone on to do some amazing work in robotics. Other women friends were physicists, economists, and engineers.
When I moved to South Carolina, I felt I had travelled back in time 50 years.
