The Girl Who Was Also a Professor
I am relatively young. A bona-fide millennial. I am traditionally “girly”, with long hair, curves, make-up, the whole deal. A child of the early 2000’s, I probably say “like” too often.
I am also a professor. I have four degrees in total, including a Ph.D., over a dozen peer-reviewed publications in highly regarded scientific journals, and dozens of conference presentations. I teach, mentor, and supervise dozens of students a year, and am in my third year of a tenure track professorship at a major, prestigious R1 university.
While I definitely do not look THAT young, I am often mistaken for a student at said R1 university and beyond. In fact (and I doubt I am the only female professor who has/continues to experience this), I sometimes hesitate with embarrassment when people ask me what I do, like the words “I’m a professor” will sound ridiculous coming from me, a “girl”. My voice literally wavers sometimes as I say it, and I curse myself for sounding pathetic, for not being able to proudly own my own identity. Sometimes I try to hold my head up and name my profession to whatever physician/server/Uber driver/mother-in-law/rando that has innocently enough asked me what I do for a living, but even then I feel myself brace for the surprised, skeptical look that follows. “Oh really? Wow…Of what? And what does your husband do?” Blah, the rest of that conversation is…
