[2] She graduated from Radcliffe College in 1957, and earned two master's degrees (an MA in 1961 and an MPhil in 1974) from Columbia University.

[5] From 1970 to 1978, she was associate vice provost of Wesleyan University, helping the school through the process of becoming co-educational.

[6][7] At Wesleyan, she began studying math anxiety (a phrase she coined)[citation needed] and other phenomena around the gender gap in STEM fields.

She taught women's studies courses at the University of Arizona, and was outreach coordinator for the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Professional Science Master's Degree initiative.

[10][11] Tobias served on the board of the Association for Women in Science,[12] and was co-president of Veteran Feminists of America.