Women were vigorously discouraged from seeking jobs that men might have wanted. “Hell yes, we have a quota,” said a medical school dean in 1961. “Yes, it’s a small one. We do keep women out when we can. We don’t want them here—and they don’t want them elsewhere, either, whether or not they’ll admit it.” … In 1960 women accounted for 6 percent of American doctors, 3 percent of lawyers, and less than 1 percent of engineers. Although more than half of federal government employees were women, they made up 1.4 percent of civil-service workers in the top four pay grades.
