MAKIKO SASADA
Sylvie Paycha and Makiko Sasada
When I was very small, maybe three or four years old, I liked things like mazes, puzzles, and logic puzzles. Even at that age I liked to think hard about these problems, and I loved the moment when I figured them out. I think at that point I already loved mathematics.
[…] some older PhD students – maybe post-docs – told me mathematics was too tough for me as a woman, recommending that I should not do it. They were struggling to find positions, and putting so much pressure on themselves. They told me that I’d have to be really strong to withstand it. And I remember thinking, “I don’t think I have that kind of strength,” but I went on anyway. I was actually very lucky in terms of getting my first position. Just after I finished my PhD, I got a tenured position at Keio University. It was an assistant professor position, but tenured. I was very, very lucky.