Harvard’s attempt to improve the climate for women scientists on campus is one step, but we need more.

Joanne Kamens

Those of us involved in promoting the success of women in scientific careers observed with some wonder the fallout from the now-infamous speech made by former Harvard president Lawrence Summers in January of 2005. His unfortunate remarks questioning women’s aptitude for science and engineering ended up having a positive effect, by shining a spotlight on Harvard and its mediocre record of diversity among its faculty.

The national dialogue on women in the scientific workplace has again come to the fore. Many women scientists (and sympathetic men) who were previously complacent about these issues realize that we still have a long, long way to go to reach some level of equity.

Harvard received so much negative press on this issue that a new position, the senior vice provost for faculty development and diversity, was created to finally address the diversity gap. Last month, this office released a report analyzing the extent of the problem and outlining ongoing efforts at Harvard to address it.

I was pleased to see the honest reporting of data that clearly show the low representation of women and minorities in tenured and tenure-track positions in the sciences. The money that Harvard has pledged to expand child care, create other support programs, and continue monitoring and promoting faculty diversity is a welcome step in the right direction. But it is only a very small start in what is sure to be a very long and difficult process of change.

The barrier to full equity is certainly not just about the time demands of child rearing. In many places of work, especially those where the number of women in positions of authority remains small (e.g., most scientific institutions), women in general still tend to receive lower salaries, fewer promotions, and have fewer career development opportunities.

Furthermore, while our society has come to accept mothers who must work to support themselves and their families, there is still a prevalent, tacit disapproval of mothers who choose to work. There is also not yet a real acceptance of men who participate fully as partners in child care; such support is one key way for women to enhance their chances of succeeding and advancing in their careers.

Changes to child-care assistance, family-friendly tenure processes, and other changes to university policy are not enough to bring about the kind of shifts in societal attitudes that need to occur for women to really achieve equity in the scientific workplace, or any workplace.

What is needed is an earlier start. We need to expose our youngest children, both boys and girls, to the idea of women and mothers making valuable contributions in the scientific workplace. In fact, they need this exposure at the age when they begin to recognize that adults go to work. Women working in scientific fields need to be mentoring, modeling, and educating young people long before they enter the workforce. Only in this way can we bring about the type of change in societal attitudes that will allow real equity for women in all aspects of their scientific careers.