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College student issues powerful message after ‘sexist’ exchange with male classmates: ‘This made me so mad’

A college student is going viral after posting a jarring video that shows just how often she gets interrupted during class.

Claire McDonnell is a graduate student at the University of Iowa. The 22-year-old is one of just four women in her science and finance program, according to BuzzFeed News.

McDonnell shared a TikTok video in late September that details one of the most problematic parts of that disparity. The clip, which now has more than 3.3 million views, reveals how often she’s interrupted by her male classmates.

“My male classmates love listening to my input and letting me finish my sentences,” she ironically captioned her video.

The clip is a compilation of several moments that, as McDonnell explained to BuzzFeed, all occurred during a single Zoom call. She captured the video during a meeting for a group project, originally planning to send it to another friend in the course.

McDonnell told BuzzFeed that, after rewatching it, she decided it was a good example of “how often this happens to women in a male-dominated field.” So, she posted the clip on TikTok.

“Live footage of being a woman in STEM,” her video’s on-screen text reads.

STEM, which stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics, represents a field of study in which women are massively underrepresented.

According to new research by sociologist Kim Weeden, 18 percent of all college entrants complete majors in the STEM field, 8 percent of which consists of women.

The problem goes all the way back to high school too. Twenty-six percent of Weeden’s male pre-college respondents said they planned on entering STEM majors, compared to only 13 percent of female respondents.

McDonnell’s video drew praise from thousands of commenters, who supported her way of calling out the “sexist” in-class behavior.

“This made me SO mad,” one user wrote.

“I would’ve SCREAMED,” another added.

“Just wait until you got to work and every guy talks over you,” another warned.

Despite the reactions, McDonell warned that this “happens on a daily basis.” The grad student told BuzzFeed she hopes she can bring more light to the issue.

“From an outside perspective, you almost have to laugh at how awful it is,” she said. “It’s a very serious issue that brings to light how many women experience it. It’s something that needs to change. Men have to be willing to make those changes.”

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