From the field of psychology to the field of computer science, women had to break through many barriers of segregation. These women and many others are the reason girls today are encouraged in these fields nearly as much as boys. They were hard workers and ambitious. All of this led them to success, despite the trials of segregation they faced.

1. Mary Whiton Calkins:

Mary Whiton Calkins was the student of William James. William James was the leader of the functionalist movement. All of his other students, who were male, left his tutelage because he agreed to teach Mary Whiton Calkins. William James continued to teach her anyways. She flourished in her studies of psychology, completing all the necessary requirements to receive a PhD from Harvard. However, they refused to relinquish the degree she earned. They told her she could receive an undergraduate degree from their sister school. Calkins seemed to think this degrading to her work, and refused the proffered degree. Instead she continued to work and study in the field of psychology, becoming an influential individual in the field as well as the first woman president of APA.

2. Mary Wollstonecraft:

Mary Wollstonecraft was an influential writer during the 1700's. She was very vocal in controversial issues, advocating for the poor and suppressed. She wrote "A Vindication of the Rights of Men" in support of the poor. Later on when women's rights to education were questioned, Mary Wollstonecraft wrote "A Vindication of the Rights of Women". Within it she not only advocates for women's rights to education, but she also mentions many modern day feminist concepts. She thought women could be educated just as men could, and should therefore be treated equal to men. Her pieces allowed for her to break through the literary world as an influential writer.

3. Mary Kenneth Keller:

Mary Kenneth Keller was a nun at the Sisters of Charity. She studied at DePaul University. While there she received a Bachelors in Mathematics and a Masters in in Mathematics and Physics. Not much is known about her past, aside from the educational institutions she attended. She'd studied at a multitude of learning environments such as Purdue and Dartmouth. When Dartmouth allowed women in the computer center, Keller was able to develop the computer language BASIC. She wrote "Inductive Inference on Computer Generated Patterns". This allowed her to become the first woman to receive a PhD in Computer Science.

4. Margaret Floy Washburn:

As previously mentioned, Harvard refused Mary Whiton Calkin her PhD in psychology. Ironically they originally did the same thing with Margaret Floy Washburn. However, she was eventually the first granted a PhD in psychology. Not only did she breakthrough the world of psychology by being the first female with a PhD in the field of study, but she also became the second woman after Mary Whiton Calkins to be the president of APA. She also wrote "The Animal Mind" which was the first work based on animal cognition. Her ability to breakthrough the field of psychology was an accomplish in itself. As was the accomplishments of these other women. What makes them truly astounding is that despite all the odds they broke through the fields, not just as women, but as original thinkers.