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For anybody having difficulty reading the text:
Anti Acknowledgements
There have unfortunately also been people who have been less than helpful in my journey here. I wanted to acknowledge those too, because I know I am not unique in this experience.
No thank you to the physics study association that made me sing songs about how women couldn’t study physics without sleeping with the professor, the day I stepped into university life. No thank you to the 5th year physics student that decided to assign me a ‘stripper name’ within the first minute of meeting me in the physics coffee corner in my first year. No thank you to the technician that was responsible for onboarding me on the use of the cluster in my third year who raised his eyebrows and asked me if that meant I was some sort of “computer girl”. No thank you to the senior researcher that sent me utterly inappropriate texts after a conference, then proceeded to ‘apologise’ months later by telling me they had not been meant for me anyway so “no hard feelings remain hopefully”. And no thank you to him for attending every conference I’ve been to since. No thank you to the people who told me that it was “surprising” that I was doing a PhD since I was a girl. No thank you to the man who mistook me for a coffee lady at a conference, and after having to correct him two times that I did not work there, responded with “you should consider it”. No thank you to the researcher that asked me what I was wearing underneath my outfit during a conference. No thank you to the physicist who declared to a room full of other physicists that biologists “don’t know how to design an experiment”. No thank you to the people who have called me scary instead of strong and intimidating instead of intelligent. And finally, no thank you to the executive board of the TU Delft, whose knee-jerk reaction to being held up to a mirror about the social safety at the university, was to sue the party holding up the mirror instead of looking at the problems they highlighted.
I wish I could tell you this has all made me stronger somehow but in reality it has only shattered my confidence. You have made me feel like I do not belong in science and I cannot forgive you for that.
-Rachel
Holy shit. Get em.
can’t wait to experience that myself!! 🥰
Does anyone have info about the lawsuit
Unfathomably based.
Bravo to the exceptional bravery on display here. I’m sure the majority of PhD graduates, including myself, wish they’d had the gumption to name and shame the suppressing factors contributing to a toxic academic environment. Reading this makes me kind of appreciative that my troubles were only administrative mismanagement and an inexperienced supervisor.
Also what the hell is up with TU Delft? It’s only partway through March and this is the second time this year that I’ve seen a PhD candidate publicly call out the institute.
No thank you to the physicist who declared to a room full of other physicists that biologists “don’t know how to design an experiment.”
That’s just what physics does to your brain. They’re all like that.
yeah. the rest of this seems like serious grievances, but physicists saying dumb arrogant shit to other scientists about not being ‘real’ fields seems like blaming water for being wet.
This sounds like the University of Ottawa. Watching physics professors sexually harass the few women in our class was disgusting.
Start creating a list of them…
The university does this actually. It’s called the faculty list of tenured professors.
Not a physicist but fuck it is so relatable.
Reminds me of Sabine Hossfelder, a physicist, who had made some similar experiences.
Proof that educated people can still be immensely stupid and be utter human trash.
It’s sad that she decided to channel her experience into transphobia, as if punching down will somehow make up for all the punches she got.
clearly you don’t understand physics.
Really? That’s news to me.
She also made a video extolling the virtues of capitalism and how science wouldn’t have progressed without it, but then oddly went on to make videos about why she had to leave academia because of profit motive forcing her to research things that didn’t matter but got grant funding to keep her alive, without making the connection that the profit motive that destroyed her dream is due to capitalism.
Not to mention, she’s fueling anti-science perspectives.
Also, she’s very ableist in that she is against autistic people
Ironically - still successfully highlighting how smart people can be assholes.
Sucks.
Live and let live, man! And preferably with no sexism!
Never let the actions of others dictate your future. If you have a goal never never give up.
Spoken like a true man. I’m a victim of sexism in STEM, now resigned to finish my degree in Japanese rather than deal with the awfulness that is men in Engingeering.
Simpler said than done. Of course I agree with you, but we need deeper changes in our society, in our behaviour as people. If you get told time and time again, that you’re worthless, can’t achieve anything etc. that’s going to leave a mark. Sure, encouraging to not let that dominate one’s thoughts is a useful skill. But it shouldn’t be necessary in the first place.
You can also have a chance to get out of such a negative surrounding, connect with people that respect you and do actions that raise your self esteem (back).
Maybe instead of meaningless platitudes actual change would be in order.
Normalise this. In the past women would have been accused of being unprofessional to have called men out like this. That’s the only reason why every woman doesn’t do it.
normalize it to the point that the anti-acknowledgements name names
This seems to be the Netherlands (TU Delft). Maybe it’s normal there.
Fuck these misogynistic pigs, idiots like these need to be called out more often. It’s too bad she couldn’t give names out and completely humiliate and ruin them.
Only if the accusations are true. It is just a post on the internet, there is no proof any of this is true or factual. Don’t be in such a hurry to harm others and damage their lives.
A bit more, this is a chapter from a PhD thesis
As a woman, and having known many other women, I can promise you that none of what is mentioned is particularly far fetched. It’s sad, but we all have multiple stories like this. Almost any woman could put together a similar paragraph of incidents she has personally experienced.
Edit to add: she didn’t even name anyone! No one is harmed, except the people who know they should be ashamed of themselves.
As a man I’d have never believed how common such behavior is. I’d have thought that’s really outlandish.
Now I’ve gone through the (probably stereotypical) process of a guy having a daughter, she’s an adult now.
What she told me - no, all this stuff isn’t unusual at all. The first time she was afraid (and called me as she already had a phone of her own) she was not even 10 years old, riding her bike from my place to the ex-wife’s place, teenage boys catcalling her.
There’s a lot of us men around who find it hard to believe, because it doesn’t happen to US. But it does. Frequently.
I know it never happened around me personally, I’m tall and mean looking, but working in service for over a decade and most people don’t know how bad it is. You learn that the restraining order needs to happen BEFORE it gets worse not as it gets worse. And none of that protects workers traveling to work. You can’t let anyone walk alone to their car alone after close, and if a guy comes in and asks for an associate with those creep vibes, and they aren’t known to the associate or a part of their private life in anyway, you need to aggressively fight it. On visit two looking for her, you have to pull her behind closed doors and report to the police he’s stalking and get a restraining order. SECOND VISIT. Anything less and you’re letting to go way to far.
As the husband of a woman with a PhD, let me assure you that I have witnessed several of these first hand when I travel with her to conferences.
We should absolutely ruin their lives. Fuckem
Beautifully spoken
