Sexism in Modern Academia

Gianna Fu '25 explores the issue of sexism in modern academia

Academia: The Living Dream

Nowadays, many girls dream of entering a prestigious academic institution. The creeping ivy on stone-aged walls, classy cafes, and late-night study sessions may sound straight out of an aesthetic YouTube vlog for some. And yet, the reality is that for female students looking to both get an education and have a good time, academia can be a smokescreen for a staggering amount of hidden sexism.

The Reality

Pretty much all the students attending SAS would one day like to go to a college like Harvard, or Princeton. Of course, I’ve always been one of them. However, after doing some research into what Ivy League life is like, I began to feel wary of the inequalities that underlie these ancient institutions. One of my friends has an older sister attending Princeton, and I asked her about her experience with sexism. She’s elected to remain nameless for privacy reasons, and so that she doesn’t receive any academic repercussions from her school because of this interview.

She states that “it’s hard to have fun in an academic setting as competitive and prestigious as Princeton. I worked so hard to get into this school that sometimes when my friends ask me to go out, even if I have time and I’m acing all my classes, I feel an urge to stay behind and study for something I’m already very good at.”

Now, this alone seems to simply exemplify the daily struggles of a hardworking good student. But she told me that “as a girl, especially, it’s hard, because there really seems to be two separate labels: the dumb party girls and the nerds. You can’t seem to want to have fun and do well in school at the same time, even if you’re fully capable of it.”

Of course, this is just a sliver of what women face in everyday life. The double standard is not limited to academia. But it is amplified by the competitive drive that these schools promote in their students, and the subsequent race to do well, to graduate at the top of your class, to prove that you could get into an Ivy League school for a reason and that you belong there. My friend’s older sister also provided examples of how these subtle micro-aggressions can have very real impacts on her life.

She mentions how professors can and will give you a lower grade on a paper than they give male students if they know that you went out the night before you turned it in. Examiners are more likely to accuse you of cheating on a final if you have a reputation as a partier. Except, she says that her male friends never face these same repercussions, because they’re young boys- they should take advantage of their youth and have fun, right? Why aren’t they held to the same standard as women? Even if you balance your school life and your social life well, you’re either dumb or boring. There seems to be no winning for these girls.

She also said that “all my smart friends, even the ones who never go out and study day and night, don’t get as good grades as the guys.” When I asked for examples, she had a plethora- certainly too many to include in this article. The one that stood out to me the most was the story of one of her friends, who is, by all means, the stereotypical “smart girl”. She never goes to parties, never skipped a class, and practically lives in the library studying. She does, however, have a boyfriend, whom she tutors frequently, as he’s “nowhere as smart as she is, and barely passes his classes”. Once, when they had to submit a paper in her accounting class, her friend wrote the paper for her boyfriend, who was out with his friends the night it was due. Her own paper was much more polished, as she worked on it tirelessly; in comparison, since she was angry at her boyfriend for leaving her to write his paper, she wrote his in about ten minutes and submitted it without editing. When grades came back, her boyfriend had received a 98, while she had only received an 86. She asked her professor why she received such a low score, and used her boyfriend’s paper as an example to compare their grades. The male professor admonished her for her “jealousy towards a classmate who evidently worked very hard on his paper, which is clearly reflected by his level of detail”.

She never told the professor about how she had written the paper for her boyfriend. She told my friend’s sister that she was too used to it, and knew from experience that if professors won’t back down after you confront them, there was no point in arguing further.

This is only one story of thousands. So many girls go through experiences like this, and the discrimination is astounding. If something like this persists, imagine the thousands of great female scientists, lawyers, and businesswomen that could come out of these schools if their grades weren’t determined by their gender.

Why Does This Matter?

This article is in no way against academic institutions. A good education is, above all else, very essential, and these reputable colleges can certainly give that to you. But what really exists behind their romanticization in college blog posts? Looking into the college you apply to is important. But their academic programs, study opportunities, and international ranking are just a snippet of the entire story. The “Student Life” section of a university’s website won’t tell you anything except for how happy they are with the school’s “diverse and welcoming environment”, reworded in one way or another. Contact your friends. Add someone’s social media and ask them about their experience. And maybe that won’t change your decision about whether or not to go or apply to these colleges, but at least it’ll help you be more prepared going into your college life. Sexism is, sadly, a prevalent part of women's lives, and academia provides an environment for it to manifest. So, getting to know female students’ experiences and doing research into professors’ histories of sexism is important while exploring the universities you aspire to attend.