U.S. Higher Education:
Report Finds No Gender Bias in Faculty Hiring, Resources
Jeffrey Mervis
A new report by the U.S. National Academies says that women are getting a fair shake from major research universities in being hired, promoted, and given access to resources—once they can grab onto the academic ladder and start climbing the rungs. That conclusion may surprise those familiar with a stream of recent reports on the topic, including a 2006 academies' study that demanded an end to what it called the "bias and outmoded practices" hindering the progress of women in academic science. The good news, says the report, is that "men and women faculty ... have enjoyed comparable opportunities, and gender does not appear to have been a factor in a number of important career transitions and outcomes." The bad news, however, is that too many scientifically trained women are rejecting academia in favor of other career paths.
