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It began with one sexist comment in an email from a colleague that set a fire in her that lasted until two in the morning and ended with 20 pages. This was the beginning of her book. From there, Eileen Pollack traveled back home to answer a question she had never asked herself: “Why didn’t I become a physicist?”

At a panel held in the Honors Hall Lounge on Tuesday, Eileen Pollack spoke about her experience getting her bachelor’s degree in physics, and then leaving the field all together to pursue writing. Composing fiction and non-fiction stories, her decision to leave the science field eventually led to the creation of her book, “The Only Woman in the Room: Why Science Is Still a Boys’ Club.”

Pollack grew up in upstate New York. Her middle school principal told her that taking advanced science classes would be pointless, because math is not meant for girls. Stubborn and persistent, she filled her head with science books and eventually was accepted into Yale.

Being accepting into an Ivy League university was groundbreaking because at the time prestigious universities had only just begun to expand their acceptance beyond students from private school backgrounds. Pollack continued to graduate at the top of her class.

“When most of us are making decisions on what courses to take,” Pollack said, “(and) maybe thinking about what we want to do with our lives, we’re maybe not at our most rational.”

Pollack explained that as societal norms have changed since she was a child, the appeal of becoming a scientist has decreased for men. She said that seeing people in media with a less-than-sexy look often pushes people away from pursuing a career in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM).

“It’s not cool in most junior high schools, whether you’re male or female,” she said, “to be really smart or really good at science or math.” Pollack said.

Women in STEM (WiSTEM) hosted Pollack’s discussion as part of the Visiting Writer Series, which works to bring creative writers to campus for workshops and panels.

Four other women joined Pollack for the discussion. One distinguished guest was Masha Gartstein. Gartstein is a professor in the department of psychology and directs ADVANCE at WSU, which works to increase representation of women and minorities in STEM fields.

Eileen Pollack will do a reading from her book “The Only Woman in the Room: Why Science Is Still a Boys’ Club,” at 5 p.m. today. Pollack will then participate in a Q&A session until 6:15 p.m. in the Museum of Art. Admission is free.