If you have never seen a student flip the script on a professor, Natalie Carter recently took to TikTok to share a story that is currently blowing up, with over 6.1 million views. The San Diego resident recounted her time as a math major, noting that ‘I was a girl in STEM, so I was used to facing sexism everywhere I turned.’ She then noted the incident that took place during the first week of the semester while she was in her Calculus Three class.
Carter noted two key things as context in her video. One, that she is a nerd who enjoys researching things outside class, and two, that she was a tutor at the school. So, when she noticed the professor teaching a foundational concept in a “dumpster fire way,” she asked him about it, pointing to a different method that she found in her research. He dismissed her, saying, “You expect me to believe you? That you’re doing research outside of class on this topic?”
Then he said something that enraged her. “I’m just surprised that someone who looks like you and dresses like you would know something like that.” Carter recalled the intense silence that filled the room as she fought the “war in her head.” She eventually decided to remain calm and told him, “Well, that was wildly inappropriate.” After a tense pause, she told him, “I’ll speak to you after class. Please proceed on with your lecture.”
Then began the long game
After the other students left, she mentioned that she stayed behind to confront him, and quips, ““Wow, that was wildly embarrassing, wasn’t it?” Carter then told him, “Normally, I would transfer out of a misogynist class like yours, okay? However, because of what you said, I’m going to remain in your class, and I’m gonna make sure that you never forget that I’m one of the smartest students you will ever have. Do you understand me?”
Carter mentioned that she followed through on that promise, finishing as one of the top students in the course. At the end of the semester, he sent her a letter expressing his surprise at how well she performed. And then she said, “and he finished it off with something like, “I’m looking forward to getting to teach more students like you in the future.”
“I go, “lol, jokes on you, b—h. I wanted to let you finish out the semester so I could school your ass, and now I’m reporting you to the office.” According to her narrative, the professor in question was only an adjunct, so “He was gone next semester.”
Her viewers swarmed the comments to praise her confidence, with many talking about wanting to be or have their daughter be as iconic someday, with one user saying, “I’m 33 and I want to be you when I grow up.” Others commended her action, like Zoey remarked, “You really pulled the ‘see me after class’ in reverse lmao.”
A user, MrWonderful118, identified as a professor and offered support. He noting, “As a professor, this irritates me so much. Good for you for calling him out. I’m constantly learning from my students.”
User wellington shared a similar story: “I was a Chemistry major in college in 1980. I had to take Calculus 1 and 2. On the first day of Calculus 2, the professor asks each student how long ago they took Calculus 1. I told him a year ago. He told me to stand up and leave the class as I would flunk out. I told him no and stayed.”
User norabellemichelle shared, “My trigonometry professor was shocked that I was an esthetician. I cannot remember how many times he’d ask me what I did for a living again. Like sir, don’t judge a book by its cover. I’m a brain cancer scientist now.”
According to research from the Higher Education Policy Institute, women students and staff continue to be underrepresented in STEM disciplines. Even in fields with gender parity, women often face everyday sexism. Their findings, which stem from the ASPIRES project at UCL, indicate that women studying STEM subjects in England were up to twice as likely as non-STEM students to experience sexism.
While much of this behavior stems from male peers, the impact on women in these fields is significant. The report highlights that experiences of sexism are frequently associated with women leaving STEM altogether. The report suggests that education policymakers need to encourage practitioners to recognize and address these behaviors.
Two women who also pointed out sexism on social media were a California woman whose car became $10k more expensive after she turned down a sales manager, and a Redditor whose father went on a period-related rant about his daughters at lunch.
Published: Jun 26, 2026 01:31 pm