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The Exceptions
The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in Science | Kate Zernike
5 posts | 5 read | 6 to read
From the Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist who broke the story, the inspiring account of the sixteen female scientists who forced MIT to publicly admit it had been discriminating against its female faculty for yearssparking a nationwide reckoning with the pervasive sexism in science. In 1999, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology admitted to discriminating against women on its faculty, forcing institutions across the country to confront a problem they had long ignored: the need for more women at the top levels of science. Written by the journalist who broke the story for The Boston Globe, The Exceptions is the untold story of how sixteen highly accomplished women on the MIT faculty came together to do the work that triggered the historic admission. The Exceptions centers on the life of Nancy Hopkins, a reluctant feminist who became the leader of the sixteen and a hero to two generations of women in science. Hired to prestigious universities at the dawn of affirmative action efforts in the 1970s, Dr. Hopkins and her peers embarked on their careers believing that discrimination against women was a thing of the pastthat science was, at last, a pure meritocracy. For years they explained away the discrimination they experienced as the exception, not the rule. Only when these few women came together after decades of underpayment and the denial of credit, advancement, and equal resources to do their work did they recognize the relentless pattern: women were often marginalized and minimized, especially as they grew older. Meanwhile, men of similar or lesser ability had their career paths paved and widened. The Exceptions is a powerful yet all-too-familiar story that will resonate with all professional women who experience what those at MIT called 21st-century discriminationa subtle and stubborn bias, often unconscious but still damaging. As in bestsellers from Hidden Figures to Lab Girl and Code Girls, we are offered a rare glimpse into the world of high-level scientific research and learn about the extraordinary female scientists whose work has been overlooked throughout history, and how these women courageously fought for fair treatment as they struggled to achieve the recognition they rightfully deserve.
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Floresj
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Pickpick

What I loved most about this book was the story of a scientist working so hard and truly believing that her work (which was incredible) would speak for itself. Time and again, when slights occurred, she could attribute them to a circumstance and pushed on. wasn‘t until the measuring tape and a network of woman and men were used to bring attention to years of struggle. Well written, acknowledging mistakes, inspirational and phenomenal science.

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RowReads1
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I had to get this one. I was working/volunteering in a bio lab and a pet store around this time. 🐠🐍🦎🐢🦂

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Suelizbeth
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Pickpick

I didn‘t know what to expect from a book that is essentially about the beginnings of the acknowledgment of discrimination against women in science. It really translates to recognizing what discrimination looks like. But it is first a story of one woman‘s fight for basic human dignity that started a flood of change. We are not all the way there, even yet, but there is still progress being made. It can be so much better. Let‘s keep it going.5⭐️

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Hooked_on_books
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Mehso-so

A story of women in science banding together and going up against a major institution to demonstrate the systematic discrimination they have faced? I should love this book! And in many ways, I did. But here‘s my problem. James Watson is a major character in the first half and is portrayed glowingly, despite the fact that it was well publicized well before this book was published, that he‘s an unrepentant bigot. Zernike plays brief lip service ⬇️

Hooked_on_books To this as though checking off a box, “dealing” with this issue, then continues to speak positively of him. This is not the true story of him. If she had more clearly explored this problem, I would have loved the book. But given that she chose to ignore it, what else did she ignore or gloss over? I feel like I can‘t trust the rest of what she‘s written because of this. 2y
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Megabooks
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This book about discrimination in STEM academia was too long/went into a bit too much detail for me, but the strides these women made are important for us all.

Hopkins is a gifted researcher who started her career in James Watson‘s Harvard lab. When she became a professor at MIT, she thought she had the same resources as the male professors, but she didn‘t. She and other women from MIT discovered the discrepancies, they fought for inclusion.

Cinfhen I was initially drawn to this book but now I‘m feeling like it‘s probably going to be a pass xx Thanks for tagging me, Meg💜 2y
Megabooks @Cinfhen fair enough 💯🫶🏻😘 2y
sarahbarnes 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼 2y
Megabooks @sarahbarnes 💯💯💯 2y
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