To the editor: When I arrived at Caltech in Pasadena as a graduate student in chemistry in 1966, there were no women in the major, no tenure-track faculty, and only a handful of women in graduate school. I was often the only woman in a class of men. (“Caltech’s Latest STEM Advance: Most of Its New Students Are Women,” Aug. 27)
Fast forward 58 years and women now make up the majority of undergraduate students, and those students have wonderful mentors and role models on the faculty, including Nobel Prize winners.
The cherry on top is Caltech's exceptional Children's Center, which provides childcare services to students, faculty and staff. I was one of three women who started it in 1970 and had the privilege of visiting it recently. Where else can you find a science lab for two-year-olds?
I congratulate my graduate school for its progress in gender equality.
Paula Bernstein, Los Angeles
..
To the editor: Your article about the increasing number of women at Caltech relative to men reminded me of a visit I made there 17 years ago.
After touring the campus, I was a little worried about my son’s social life if he went there. So I asked our guide what the gender distribution of the students was. The guide’s response, “It depends on why you ask,” always amused us—certainly a quantum physics-style answer.
I recently sent my son your article with the comment: “Our domination is over!”
He replied: “Wow! Next thing you know, we’ll have a female president!”
By the way, my son met his future wife when he was a freshman at the University of California at Berkeley.
Dan Ellison, Ventura
