Women faculty underrepresented in sciences

When Marlies Gerber came to IU in 1982 as an assistant professor, there was only one other woman in the mathematics department. \nNow, 22 years later, not much has changed. \nThe proportion of women in the department is still small -- out of 48 faculty members, only three are women. \nGerber's situation mirrors a recent study led by Dr. Donna Nelson, a chemistry professor at the University of Oklahoma.\nThe study revealed that women account for just a small proportion of scientists, mathematicians and engineers working at the nation's top research universities. In a report describing the study, the shortage of women at the nation's top institutions has been called a "grave national problem."\n"People have been aware of this problem for a long time," Nelson said in a statement. "But until now no one really knew what the figures were; no one had quantified it so we had a national picture." \nThe report found that only between 3 and 15 percent of full-time professors at top engineering, mathematics and science departments are women, although the percentage of women attaining doctorates during the last 20 years is substantially higher.\nNelson and her colleagues determined which institutions were at the top by looking at the highest research budget in each of 14 disciplines.\nThe study also revealed that in most of these fields, the proportion of bachelor's and doctoral degrees earned by women was higher than the proportion of women faculty members who actually teach the subject.\nGerber, associate professor of mathematics, said the math department is making a strong effort to hire more women.\n"For a long time I was the only woman in the math department in a tenured or tenure track position, but in recent years, two other women were hired and both received tenure," she said.\nDean of Women's Affairs Terry Dworkin said female graduate students and faculty members in science and math are underrepresented at IU as compared to other Big Ten schools.\n"This has been a continuing problem that has been specially addressed by a number of deans," Dworkin said. "We are trying to deal with it in a variety of ways from sponsoring groups of women scientists on campus to putting together a panel that looks at the challenges women face."\nGerber said although the progress is slow, she has noticed an influx of women being hired at top research universities.\n"Part of the problem is the fact that women are still burdened with more domestic responsibilities and give higher priority to their personal lives than men," Gerber said.\nSome research universities are making changes and taking a closer look at their own faculty statistics. In an effort to ensure both sexes are equally represented, some have even given a slight preference to women when it comes to hiring. Although Gerber has not seen such cases in the mathematics department, she said steps should be taken to hire more women.\n"The emphasis should be on developing the research abilities of women at the undergraduate and graduate levels, not on giving breaks to weaker job candidates," Gerber said.\nElite universities such as Duke and Princeton have already begun to correct the uneven distribution of women across disciplines. Both schools completed a year-long study and have requested funds to promote hiring and promotion of women.\n"It's time we take part in a study of this problem on our campus," Dworkin said. "It's long overdue"