This paper was presented to the faculty and students of the Math and Computer Science department of Beloit College on March 24, 1999. There was a large turnout for the colloquium, and many people stayed afterwards to discuss the talk personally with me and with each other. I continued to meet with faculty and staff to debate the issues presented at my Colloquium on a regular basis until my graduation from Beloit College in May 1999.

Despite these facts, and the obvious completion of the thesis in a way that complied with Beloit College's requirements for the course, I received a low grade on this presentation. Out of curiousity, I telephoned my CS advisor and asked him about the grade. Apparently, when the professors got together to discuss the Colloquium and assign a grade, there was a professor from the Mathematics Department who felt that my topic was completely irrelevant to the field of Computer Science, that it did nothing to further the academic intellect of anyone in the audience, and that it deserved an "F". To compromise with him, my grade was lowered.

Aside from the blatant disregard of policy shown here (my topic was submitted to and approved by the entire Mathematics/Computer Science faculty in January of 1999, long before my talk), I feel that this anecdote illustrates perfectly one major obstacle facing women in computer science: the inability to appreciate our position and to take it seriously.

- carolyn b. boyce, 9 February 2000

Go back to the Table of Contents