The MIT study found that "junior women faculty feel well supported within their departments and most do not believe that gender bias will impact their careers." But tenured women faculty feel marginalized by disparities in salary, space, awards and resources compared to their male counterparts.

The conference included four panels of speakers aiming to define the issues for women in science. The panels examined women in the physical sciences and engineering, barriers to success in academia and industry and women in positions of leadership.

Luncheon workshops were also offered. The workshops enabled conference participants to discuss particular fields of science.

The closing keynote speaker, Professor Dudley Herschbach, a Nobel laureate in chemistry, could not address the conference Saturday because of rain delays affecting his flight from Chicago. Professor of physics Howard M. Georgi '68 replaced Herschbach.

Georgi agreed with speakers who saw the need for more men to learn about the issues surrounding women in science. He also aimed to dispel several myths about science, noting the most pervasive as the unclear conceptions about what it takes to succeed, which encourages males in leadership to choose successors who are like them.

"One of the best examples of what it takes to go into science is the spectacular collection of undergrads who organized this conference," Georgi added, applauding the women who headed the effort.

Elizabeth D. Chao '01, the former WISHR president, helped get the conference off the ground.

"There were a lot of questions in my mind about whether a conference like this should exist," she said.