Following the success of the M.R.S. degree, UCSD is looking into creating a “house-husband” degree.
Photo by Julia Wong
Starting this spring, UC San Diego students will have the option to obtain an M.R.S. degree in a variety of STEM fields. The TritonLink major-minor tool will be updated to include majors such as EC29 (M.R.S. Electrical Engineering) and CS28 (M.R.S. Computer Science), allowing students who identify as women to enroll in an M.R.S. degree program.
The Dean of the Jacobs School of Engineering, Albert P. Pisano, released a statement on the new program, noting, “Previous efforts to increase the number of women in engineering fields, such as adding women’s bathrooms to Jacobs Hall and printing exams on champagne pink paper, saw massive success. After the ECE tutoring center began offering complimentary nail polish, the number of women in computer engineering tripled, with two more women joining the major the following year.”
Women who want to pursue an M.R.S. degree will need to fulfill unique requirements, such as homemaking and childrearing, in addition to the general education courses of their respective colleges and their major requirements. Pisano personally reached out to “America’s favorite housewife” Abby Shapiro to devise a four-year plan for students in M.R.S. programs. The coursework includes lower-division classes such as SHH 7A: Respecting Your Man, the first class in a five-course series, and upper-division classes such as SLIP 168: Dressing Modestly. Students enrolled in Shapiro’s classes will need to pay a $74.99 monthly subscription fee to her Patreon in order to submit their online homework assignments. Furthermore, students in the M.R.S. program are required to be engaged in order to receive their diploma package, which will consist of a marriage certificate with King Triton in the corner and a small bag of rice. The graduation ceremony for M.R.S. students will be “a mass wedding, in which these women will take a STEM man to be their husband under the holy presence of Chancellor Khosla,” explained Shapiro.
Following the program’s announcement, Pisano held a public forum to hear the students’ thoughts. After an hour of negative comments from students, UCSD academic coordinator, Mary D’hivours, Ph.D., commented, “I wish I had this program back in the day. I’d rather have an M.R.S. degree than a Ph.D. in electrical engineering. After I got fired for taking care of my sick daughter instead of attending the company’s annual ‘Blast from the Past’ party, no other company would hire me. As a full-time mother, my Ph.D. was just another piece of paper for my daughter to draw on. You ladies should be grateful for the M.R.S. program. The only sparks you should care about are the ones with your future husband.”
UCSD’s program has received national recognition, garnering praise from “esteemed” health website, WebMD. In a statement released shortly after the announcement of the M.R.S. program, WebMD commented, “The WebMD family believes this program will greatly improve the mental health of women at UC San Diego. The key to a healthy life is balance, and a well-rounded woman knows how to work with both bread and breadboards. Nothing makes a woman happier than spending the day working towards a lucrative yet stressful career in tech and then coming home to cook a three-course dinner for her husband.”
