SIVACRACY.NET

By PIPER FOGG

Women are underrepresented in academic leadership positions in science and mathematics not because they are innately less capable than are men but because of biases, discrimination, and outdated institutional structures, according to a report issued on Monday by a panel convened by the National Academies.

The report, "Beyond Bias and Barriers: Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering," says that despite making up an increasing proportion of science and engineering majors at all institutions, women continue to be a small portion of the faculty members in those fields at research universities. And they typically receive fewer resources and less support than their male colleagues, the report concludes.

Women are underrepresented in top positions in academe, professional societies, and honorary organizations not because of "a lack of talent," the report says, but because of "unintentional biases and outmoded institutional structures that are hindering the access and advancement of women." The report rejected the idea that the gap may be attributed to innate differences in ability, as proposed last year by then-President of Harvard University, Lawrence H. Summers. Mr. Summers's suggestion sparked a wave of protest, eventually resulting in his resignation.

At a news conference announcing the report, the panel's chairwoman, Donna E. Shalala, president of the University of Miami and a former U.S. secretary of health and human services, called the situation "troubling and embarrassing" and described the report as "a call to action."

The panel noted that, after an exhaustive review of the scientific literature, including studies of brain structure and function, it could find no evidence of "any significant biological differences between men and women in performing science and mathematics that can account for the lower representation of women," according to its report.

Rather, the panel blamed environments that favor men, continuous questioning of women's abilities and commitment to an academic career, and a system that claims to reward based on merit but instead rewards traits such as assertiveness that are socially less acceptable for women to possess.

In the report, the panel recommended that:

* Trustees, university presidents, and provosts be leaders in changing the culture at their institutions to recruit, retain, and promote women.

* Deans and department chairs and their tenured faculty members take steps to minimize the effect of biases in recruiting, hiring, promoting, and granting tenure.

* Professional and higher-education organizations promote equal treatment of women and men, and start by collecting data on the numbers of women at various levels in math and science. The groups should also work to invite a diverse group of keynote speakers at their meetings, and ensure adequate representation of women on editorial boards.

* Federal grant-making agencies ensure that their practices and rules support the participation of women by providing workshops to minimize gender bias, collecting data on grant applications, and creating ways to finance professors who take leaves of absence to care for children.

* Federal agencies and Congress enforce antidiscrimination laws at institutions of higher education.