Regarding Credibility
Countless studies offer compelling evidence that analytical fields are hostile to women. I’ve listed a couple
in the “Further Reading” section of this zine. Generally
this evidence takes the form of statistical analysis: what
percentage of women receive STEM degrees? What
percentage of women drop out of STEM fields while still
in undergraduate?
The studies are interesting and worth looking at, but
not discussed in this zine. I want to discuss how and
why analytical fields are hostile to women. Many of the
points in the manifesto are drawn from my personal
experience, but understood in the context of a broad
model of systemic sexism.
The model, roughly speaking, is:
unequal meritocracy + sexist cultural assumptions
about women = systemic sexism in academia
I hope that with further contributions from other analytical girls, the manifesto will paint an increasingly accurate picture of institutionalized sexism and its effects
on student identity and happiness.