The US National Research Council put a pretty positive spin on its latest report on women in science, released earlier this week. Women in science and engineering jobs are “faring well” in hiring and tenure processes, according to the report, which was demanded by lawmakers in Congress.

Two surveys carried out by the NRC show that women who apply for tenure-track positions have a better chance of being interviewed and receiving job offers than male applicants.

“Overall the newly released data indicate important progress, and signal to both young men and especially to young women that what had been the status quo at research-intensive universities is changing,” says Sally Shaywitz, of Yale University School of Medicine (press release). “There is a movement toward more gender equity than noted in previous reports or often publicly appreciated.”

But then comes the caveat: “At the same time, the findings show that we are not there yet.”

While women have better chances of obtaining jobs when they apply for them, they are still not applying for tenure-track jobs at the same rate they are earning PhDs. In addition women are underrepresented among candidates for tenure relative to the number of faculty lower down the ladder. They are also paid less on average than male counterparts.

On the Inside Higher Ed website, Phoebe Leboy, president of the Association for Women in Science and professor emerita of biochemistry at the University of Pennsylvania notes:

This focuses on those women survivors who can last long enough to come up for promotion, and says there are no statistically significant gender inequities. [The report] focuses on only that sub-population of women who have the nerve to apply for these positions. … It’s really distressing that they have ignored so many issues about women in STEM fields.

More coverage

Tenure-Track Jobs in Science and Math Are Open to Women, if They Want Them – Chronicle of Higher Education

Women Are Seen Bridging Gap in Science Opportunities – NY Times