When Dr. Juliet Turner shared the news that she had successfully defended her doctoral thesis at the University of Oxford — the world’s number one ranked university — she simply wanted to celebrate a milestone four years in the making.
“I passed my viva exam,” she wrote. “You can call me Doctor.”
What happened next, she never expected.
A self-proclaimed life coach with a large following shared her photo with a mocking caption: “‘Just look at the degree on that chick’ — said no man ever.” His post unleashed a flood of sexist comments. Strangers told her she should have been having babies instead. Others called her a “cat lady.” Some questioned whether her research even mattered.
But Dr. Turner’s response silenced them all — with grace, not anger:
“I’m sure having my photo shared in this derogatory way would be devastating if my motivation for getting a PhD was to impress this guy and his women-hating friends. Thankfully, it was not. So I can just laugh about it instead.”
And what exactly was Dr. Turner busy doing while these men were typing insults from their couches?
She was solving one of evolution’s deepest puzzles: why certain insect species develop extraordinary levels of social complexity while others do not. Her research uses advanced comparative techniques to study how ant colonies function as superorganisms — where every individual sacrifices its own reproduction for the survival of the whole. Her findings have implications far beyond insects, shedding light on how all complex life evolved, from single-celled organisms to the multicellular beings we are today.
She now continues her research while teaching evolutionary biology at Oxford and working as an ecological researcher.
But perhaps the most beautiful thing that came from the backlash? Thousands of women around the world began posting their own degrees and academic achievements in solidarity, creating the viral trend “Degree on That Chick” — turning an insult into a global celebration of women in education.
Dr. Turner didn’t just defend her thesis. She reminded the world that brilliance doesn’t need anyone’s approval.
Congratulations, Dr. Turner. The ants — and the rest of us — are lucky to have you.
