Siegel agreed with Buell, adding that Harvard's tenure program is plagued by "structural programs" which virtually doom the hope of tenure for junior Faculty in the field of English.

Because tenure candidates are evaluated based on their national and international preeminence, Siegel said it is especially difficult for a faculty member five years out of a Ph.D. program to have amassed the requisite body of work.

"Most people know that it's not a safe bet to think you'll be tenured at Har- vard," he said.

Siegel said some candidates even avoid taking ajob with Harvard in the first place, choosinginstead to take jobs with schools where tenure canbe a reality form the start.

"If you're going to get that job six yearslater, why not start now?" he said.

According to Jeffery A. Masten, an associateprofessor of English and comparative literature atNorthwestern University who was denied tenure atHarvard last December, the departure of three ofhis former colleagues reflects a fact he knowsonly too well--that the possibility of tenure isoften a long shot, even for the most talented ofjunior Faculty.

Masten, formerly Cowles associate professor inthe humanities, was denied tenure despiteoverwhelming support from the Faculty.

"Junior faculty members are obviously leavingmuch sooner in their careers than they did when Istarted at Harvard in 1991," Masten wrote in ane-mail message." I think that's clearly because,with regard to tenure, everyone knows there arejust too many obstacles--in the department and inthe University."

But in the meantime, Buell said his departmenthas already hired five new junior Faculty membersand will do what it can to better maintain thosejunior Faculty already in the department.

While Buell said he did not choose new juniorFaculty members specifically to plug in the holescreated by the departure of Pellegrini, Esty andSiegel, he said two of the incoming assistantprofessors have expressed interest in teachingcourses in gender studies.

"By a combination of trying to be proactivelyhelpful from the start...you can help make themlook as strong as possible as candidates foradvancement for positions on the inside" andoutside of Harvard, he said