‘I am one of the smartest students you’ll ever have:’ Calculus professor belittled her because of her looks. She got revenge by acing his class

Every woman in STEM is well aware of the sexism that continues to persist in its various fields. Natalie Carter (@natalieecee), a math major in college, told TikTok about a time her calculus professor undermined her intelligence on the basis of her looks. She didn’t brush the comment off—Natalie confronted her professor and proved him wrong by the end of the semester.

“Basically, I was a girl in STEM. I’m used to facing sexism everywhere I turn,” Natalie said at the beginning. This shouldn’t be the case, but it’s an indictment on the current state of the world.

“I’m sitting in Calculus 3—the first week of class. Teacher doesn’t know anyone’s skillset. No one really does at this point,” she prefaced. Natalie claimed she was a nerd, and she loved researching concepts during her free time. Of course, not that anyone who didn’t know her would know, but that shouldn’t merit untoward assumptions.

Hurting a STEM professor’s ego

During class, Natalie says the teacher starts talking about a foundational theory. She said he started teaching the concept in a “dumpfire way” that would leave the students confused. As a tutor in the school, Natalie thought that it would be a headache to teach later on. Hence, she suggested a different solution to the teacher.

“Have you ever heard of this way of solving this problem?” Natalie told her professor.

Instead of accepting Natalie’s suggestion, the teacher condescendingly remarked, “How do you know that?”

She told him that she Googled it. The teacher then told her, “You expect me to believe that you’re doing research outside of class on this topic?”

She said, “I’m not expecting you to believe anything I say. I’m not on trial.”

What he said next should never come out of a professor’s mouth.

“I’m just surprised that someone who looks like you and dresses like you would know something like that,” he said. The whole class fell silent.

“I’ll speak to you after class. Please proceed with your lecture,” Natalie told the professor. It’s a rare scenario—many women fold in the face of sexist remarks, to no fault of their own. But in this moment, Natalie gained command of the room.

Natalie threatens to prove her professor wrong, and she did

After everyone else left the class, Natalie approached her professor for a little chat. “Wow, that was wildly embarrassing, wasn’t it?” She confronted him. The professor was mumbling, unsure of what to say to that.

“Normally, I would transfer out of a misogynistic class like yours. However, because of what you said, I’m going to remain in your class and I’m going to make sure you never forget that I’m one of the smartest students you’ll ever have,” she said. This was not a threat but a promise to her professor.

Natalie said that by the end of the year, she ranked in the top two—if not as the best person in his class that whole year. However, the professor did not learn his lesson.

He wrote a letter by the end of the year that said, “Honestly, I was so surprised at how well you did,” to Natalie. Why is he still surprised if she has proven herself consistently through the year?

Becoming the best is a cumulative effort, not a test that was aced one time. Where’s the surprise in that? Or was he shocked that this woman he underestimated lived up to her promise? Natalie would report this professor, and he did not come back the next year.

There are a ton of red flags in her story, the first being that the professor had inappropriately focused on her clothing. No educator should be that obsessed with their student’s clothes. But to make matters worse, he also judged her based on appearances. These are struggles men in STEM would hardly ever encounter.

How come Einstein could get away with messy hair, but clothing for a woman in STEM becomes an indicator of her character and intelligence? It’s sexism—it’s not supposed to make sense. But Natalie proved that women can bite back and prove those who underestimate them wrong.

(featured images: Yan Krukau, Natalie Carter, Andy Barbour)

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