"It is a crucially important issue and I don't think we've solved the problem," says Associate Dean of the Faculty for Affirmative Action Marjorie Garber.

The problem is particularly acute in the sciences. A 1993 faculty report on the status of women found that female junior professors and graduate students can face institutional barriers in science fields.

"I certainly see it as a problem in my own field," says Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics Howard Georgi. "The small number of tenured women in the sciences makes it more difficult to attract undergraduate and graduate women to the sciences."

The Answers?

But while many professors agree the percentage of tenured women is too low, consensus on the issue ends at that point. There is little agreement about how the University could or should address the problem.

Administrators in charge of increasing Harvard's faculty diversity argue that the University is already moving toward gender equality and just needs more time to achieve its goals.

One administrator says, in fact, that the Faculty's tenure rate for women has increased. In the last three years, 22 percent of tenure offers have been to women, while in the three years before that, the rate was just 16 percent, the official says.

"I feel confidant that it's just a matter of time," says Associate Vice President James S. Hoyte '65, who is assistant to the president for affirmative action. "In general I think there's fairness in the process."

Garber, whose job includes urging departments to keep female hiring needs in mind during the tenure process, says she sees progress.

"Harvard's tenure process is very complex so the machinery moves more slowly," she says. "Affirmative action issues are raised at every stage."

Such arguments for patience do not satisfy everyone, however.

Incremental change under the present system is slow. Over the past 11 years, the average annual rate of increase in the Faculty percentage of tenured women was .5, and the rate for the entire University was .4.

Professors say that the appointment process at Harvard still fails to be completely fair and that the University could do more to increase the number of tenured women.

Professor of Sociology Theda Skocpol says Garber and Hoyte are "overly optimistic."

"It's exactly what people have been saying for 15 years," she says. "Once people are in the administration, that's what they always say."