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The Scientist : Fixing the Leaky Pipeline

By Phoebe Leboy

Fixing the Leaky Pipeline
Why aren't there many women in the top spots in academia?

Back in 2006, I took a quick survey of the basic science departments in medical schools to see how women were doing in science. Close to half of the top 10 National Institutes of Health-funded academic health centers had no women among their junior tenure-track faculty in their biochemistry and cell biology departments. Looking at such statistics, a young woman might get the impression that her shot at the faculty positions at these schools would be difficult, if not out of reach. When I surveyed the schools, Harvard Medical School had 23 tenure-track faculty members in its cell biology and biochemistry/ molecular pharmacology departments, but none were women (since then, two women have joined the ranks). Why are so few women making it onto the tenure ladder at major medical schools?

These top institutions represent an extreme example of a general problem. For example, the NIH reports that only 20% of their senior scientists are women. Postdoctoral award data show that the biomedical pipeline is filled with good candidates, but disproportionately few get into the tenure track stream at major research institutions. Clearly some major leaks along the way are causing only a trickle of women to make it to the top....