A colloquium for doctoral students: A young doctoral student has her baby, who is only a few weeks old, with her. She is eager to attend the colloquium to discuss her thesis, which she plans to submit in the next few months. When the baby gets a little restless – that is, not crying, just moving a little wriggly and filling her diaper somewhat noisily – the professor tells her to please refrain from bringing her baby to the colloquium in the future. After all, he says, the colloquium should be a place of focused work and concentration.

She complied and continued to attend the colloquia without her baby. A few months later, she received her doctorate, grade: rite. She then switched to local politics since mothers are obviously not welcomed in academia.