A letter from Jared Mauldin, a senior at Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington, begins with the assertion that the women in his engineering classes are not his equals.
The letter, which was published in the campus newspaper The Easterner, made the point that women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields are unequal to men not because they are less apt, but rather because they aren't given the same privileges and opportunities.
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"I did not, for example, grow up in the world that discouraged me from focusing on hard science," Mauldin wrote. "Nor did I live in a society that told me not to get dirty, or said I was bossy for exhibiting leadership skills."
He goes on to describe that he never feared rejection; was never patronized for finding math difficult; was never rebuffed by a "boy's club" mentality; and will never be accused of being a "diversity hire."
He commended his female peers for persisting through the hardships they have had to endure in the largely male-dominated field.
"Nothing I said was new, it has all been said a thousand times before. The difference is that I am a man," Mauldin told The Huffington Post. "Maybe by standing up and breaking the silence from the male side, I can help some more men begin to see the issues, and begin to listen to the women who have been speaking about this all along."