In releasing the transcript of his Jan. 14 remarks on women in science yesterday, University President Lawrence H. Summers acceded to one of the Faculty’s principal demands, but some professors say he failed to dispel accusations that he is unfit to lead Harvard.

And professors who called for the transcript’s release welcomed Summers’ move—but are already disputing the substance of his comments.

Summers’ advocates, meanwhile, validated the scholarship behind the claims made in the speech and circulated a petition among the Faculty, asking that they actively affirm their confidence in Summers’ leadership if it comes to a vote at next Tuesday’s meeting.

As of last night, 70 faculty members had signed the petition.

While it was difficult to gauge just how much yesterday’s development will change faculty opinion, one senior professor said that if a vote were held, it appears that the majority of professors would vote “no confidence” in Summers.

“I believe there is a minority of faculty who would support the president entirely. I believe there is a majority who don’t. I believe that there is a small group in between that takes a more reasoned view,” said the professor, who asked not to be named.

According to the transcript of Summers’ remarks at a National Bureau of Economic Research conference last month, Summers said that the underrepresentation of women in science is due largely to “issues of intrinsic aptitude” and women’s self-selection out of certain jobs to focus on family obligations.

He downplayed the significance of discrimination in the hiring process and beyond.

Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology Steven Pinker said that Summers’ interpretation is a valid claim.

“There’s not a hundred percent certainty in any of the claims, but they are reasonable given what we know in the literature,” Pinker said.

But Summers’ critics remain most upset about the president’s dismissal of the discrimination claim, which they say contradicts decades of research and represents a setback in the fight for gender equality.

Summers “ignores the impediments to women’s progress posed by long-standing patterns of prejudice, unwelcoming environments, and unequal resources: factors that have been documented by a wealth of research over many years,” Berkman Professor of Psychology Elizabeth S. Spelke wrote in an e-mail yesterday.

Given the scope of the debate over Summers’ ability to lead, the same anonymous professor said the transcript may not change many minds.

“People are going to read these comments and read into them what they want to see,” the professor said.

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