Street names are symbols of the rich histories that make up a community – a network of important landmarks, local industry, professions, and people. The North West Cambridge Development is currently making history naming their streets. Recently, their decision making has drawn the attention of Professor Mary Beard who has criticised the proposal to name many of the streets after Cambridge alumni Nobel Laureates; a group, she notes, made up overwhelmingly of male scientists.

From browsing their website it’s clear that the developers are keen to lay the foundations of history beneath the new concrete. Some of the names are being drawn from the history of the land, the rest are borrowed from Cambridge scholars, filling the streets with the winds of yester-studies. Yet, rather than writing history into its streets, the developers seem to be regurgitating history – history written, primarily, by men.

Of the ninety affiliates of the University who have won Nobel Prizes, two have been women. A further two alumni have won in Literature and two in Peace. Of these six, one makes it onto the shortlist: Dorothy Hodgkin, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1964. As someone who knows very little about the structure of vitamin B12, Hodgkin’s advancements in Chemistry register far less with me than her remarkable achievement in being the first female Cambridge scholar to win a Nobel Prize. This is a great start. Yet I can’t help wondering: that was 1964, this is 2015… why are we still only just starting?

Nobel Laureates have contributed hugely to the academic development of the University. However, in limiting the pool of choice the University is snubbing a large proportion of its students: past, present and future. It is inconceivable that those proposing the names were ignorant of this when they chose the category, and I’m sure they don’t lack the initiative to find a solution to this historical bias. Looking for a swift and easy decision, the University have selected a group of people whose significances are not up for debate: a Nobel Prize is probably the greatest single honour a person can receive. However, if their plan was to prevent debate then it has certainly backfired: case in point, Professor Beard.

Her comments call for a “balance” of representation between humanities and the sciences. While I am in agreement with this, it can be detrimental to take up a two-sphered approach to Cambridge academia. Even within the shortlist there is a disproportionate amount of Physics winners compared to Chemistry and Medicine, and none of the nine winners in Economics is listed. Why should a Physics Laureate be any more relevant to an Economics student than an English student? The problem, therefore, is not merely in balancing the recognition of humanities and sciences. It’s not about adding a few novelists to even out the numbers. It’s about celebrating a broader history of Cambridge academia than the current list exhibits.

Street names are permanent; they’re markers for all future generations of the face of Cambridge academia. Without having access to the full statistics of road sign genders, it’s unquestionable that there are far more Cambridge roads named after men than there are women. We have very little control over the history already installed in our addresses. Yet in this instance the University has been handed the opportunity to shape the history we choose to celebrate and cast light upon. This was a chance to rectify a gross historical imbalance. In its current state, the University has chosen not to choose: history will instead be served pre-packaged in a neatly conservative format.

Examples like this raise larger and more disturbing questions about the prevailing conservatism within the University. How can women in academia place their faith in Cambridge’s commitment to equality when this kind of opportunity is overlooked? We can’t change the past, but we do have a duty to promote a future with more opportunities for women to celebrate their academic achievements. This will never happen if we fail to celebrate those who have been brushed aside, leaving their success unwritten.

Fortunately, there is a solution: the nine street name suggestions received from the local community list four women academics, and the humanities are also featured alongside the sciences. The descriptions of these individuals on the development website outline their unique contributions to the University: their influences within research and beyond, and personal relevance to the site, are clear. In the short term, the problem now seems easily rectifiable: could we have more of the same, please?

Sexism in academia manifests in many different ways; today, it was street names, tomorrow it might be someone’s career. Just as it’s important to delve into the root of a problem, it’s also vital to treat the symptoms. Nothing, no matter how small sounding, that embodies discrimination can be dismissed as negligible. It’s all part of the same debate.

From an education perspective, it seems natural to recognise the important contributions of alumni from across all disciplines. From any perspective, however, it must be right to deliver on how far Cambridge has come as an institution that celebrates the achievements of women, beginning with street names. As this debacle proves, we still have a long way to go; and I haven’t even started on the lack of racial diversity.

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