Lady Wranglers, by Joy Rankin – The New Inquiry
▻http://thenewinquiry.com/blogs/%blog-types%/lady-science-no-26-pt-2-lady-wranglers
Despite all of these obstacles and limitations, women began performing quite well on the Tripos. In 1890 Philippa Fawcett, a student at Newnham, the other Cambridge women’s college at the time, placed at the top of the order of merit with the highest score on the Tripos that year. Fawcett’s score was not officially recognized, while the man with the highest score, though lower than hers, was the “senior wrangler.”
(...) When women did well on the Tripos, the result was not that women were considered equals to the men in intellect and reputation; rather, the exam shed its closely-knit gendered associations of masculinity and prestige. When women achieved success on the Tripos, the Tripos lost its symbolic power.