Melissa Abler is used to being one of the few females in her classes; it has been that way since her freshman year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She recently recalled day one of her introduction to computer engineering class, where she met her best friend.
“She sat next to me on the first day and was like, 'Oh my God, another girl!'” she said.
Abler is now a senior and the only woman on campus majoring in engineering physics to her knowledge.
While it is true more women are careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics today than in the past, they still account for a smaller percentage than men.
According to the UW System's Office of Policy Analysis and Research, 37.9 percent of undergraduate and graduate women received a degree in a STEM field in 2013.
Abler said she feels a unique responsibility to perform well academically as a woman in a male-dominated area of study, particularly as she gets older and the presence of women in her classes diminishes.
“You have this burden of representing your gender and succeeding on behalf of your gender, which is a very weird place to be in,” Abler said. “And one I wasn't really conscious of when I was a freshman and sophomore.”
Abler said she has never experienced any overt discrimination, but has picked up on subtle biases, such as responses her admittance to Columbia University’s graduate school elicited.
“I've had some people tell me, 'Well of course you got in, you're a girl in physics,' and not 'Hey, you worked really hard and earned it,'” Abler said.
While external biases may persist, UW-Madison sophomore Anna Christenson, who is pursuing a degree in physics, said her harshest criticism comes internally.
“I do hear myself saying 'You didn't do as well because you're a girl,'” Christenson said, but acknowledged this type of thinking is unjustified and something she would like to correct moving forward.
Various organizations on campus aim to increase the number of women pursuing science degrees, including the Women in Science & Engineering residential learning community, located in Sellery Hall.
WISE’s 64 current participants make social and professional connections, receive mentoring and have the opportunity to enroll in classes taught by WISE staff in a few core subjects.
One university study showed women who marked an interest in a STEM field on their UW-Madison application and participated in WISE were 50 percent more likely to graduate with a STEM degree than those who did not participate in WISE.
Even though not a member of WISE as a freshman, Abler attributes much of her success to the student organizations in which she participates.
Abler is a member of the Society of Women Engineers, a nonprofit group on campus that provides members with a number of community service opportunities, social and professional networking as well as mentoring.
Additionally, as a bisexual woman, Abler is a member of Out in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, which allows members of the LGBT community who are pursuing a degree in science to network with one another.
Abler said she feels stereotypes about what academic degrees LGBT students are likely to pursue, such as “theatre or writing or very liberal artsy things,” are getting stronger.
In addition to those misconceptions, Abler said another obstacle exists that many women find more troublesome than men; namely, the pressure to get married and have a family.
“It's much more accepted for men to be single at 35,” Abler said. “And with women it's often like...why are you not married? Did you get divorced? Or are you just refusing to get married to anyone ever? What happened? Something must have happened.”
However, the journey through graduate school and postdoctoral research often means an individual cannot stay in one city until their thirties, which complicates settling down.
Susan Coppersmith, a professor of physics at UW-Madison with a child of her own, said she understands this predicament. Coppersmith said by the time a person receives tenure at a university, they are likely in their mid-to-late thirties.
“There's this question of how do you do this and have a family?” Coppersmith said. “And how do you integrate everything?”
Still, Abler said she is determined to pursue her professional aspirations.
Christenson, too, is set on fulfilling her academic dreams and said she thinks the responsibility lies on her and other women to make their own success.
“We've had wonderful women fight for our rights; now we have those rights in academia,” Christenson said. “It's time for us to rise to the challenge, and make ourselves equal.”
