The road to success for Danish seismologist Inge Lehmann (1888–1993) – known for her 1936 discovery of the Earth's inner core – was difficult and full of challenges. While she herself refused to accept any notion of gender difference ascribed, society at large was less open-minded. Using newly discovered, unpublished historical documents, this article examines to what degree her gender played a decisive role in her graduate and postgraduate experiences.