45 Quotes by Eileen Pollack

My brother had been given a chemistry set for his bar mitzvah, but he wasn't interested in it. It was upstairs in the attic, and I would sneak up there and use it at great peril because I was afraid if he found out, he would get very angry at me, but he didn't seem to care.

When I was in seventh grade, I was bored out of my mind. We seemed to be learning the same things over and over in science and math, and two of the boys in my class were allowed to move ahead into these advanced classes, but I wasn't allowed because I was a girl.

Combating any kind of obstacle is much easier if you know that it's real and not your fault, and it's something you can fight against.

Science and math are hard for everybody, and it's usually not a matter or being born gifted at it or not. It's hard work, but it can be a lot of fun!

The most powerful determinant of whether a woman goes on in science might be whether anyone encourages her to go on.

I think women need to hear more encouragement in any field, because I see it - I teach creative writing. And even though it's mostly women in the room, they're not often - or they didn't used to be the ones who went on to publish books. I know this sounds like a tautology, but encouragement is the key.

If you're the only anything in the room, you're going to feel so self-conscious of your right to be there.

If there's a stereotype that you're not supposed to be good at something, that still gets so badly in your way of concentrating.

If you're a white male growing up in this society, you're constantly receiving encouragement to go on in science in the form of all the images that you're receiving.