Dean Drew Gilpin Faust

Dean Barry Bloom fostered a frank conversation among School members. Joining him on the panel were Lisa Berkman, Chair of the Department of Society, Human Development, and Health, and Drew Gilpin Faust, Dean of the Radcliffe Institute, who was asked by President Lawrence Summers to join him and Provost Steven Hyman in taking the lead on efforts to support women pursuing academic careers. President Summers announced last week the establishment of two University-wide task forces on women.

The subject of women in science and the issues they confront "has enormous impact and implications for faculty, fellows, and students," said Dean Bloom as he introduced the forum. He hoped the event would provide, "an occasion by which we could share thoughts, concerns, and hopefully constructive ideas."

	Professor Lisa Berkman (l) and Dean Barry Bloom

Why do women appear to have a tougher time advancing their careers? Professor Berkman pointed to an essay written by Jonathan Cole of Columbia University and Burton Singer of Princeton University as a framework in which to better understand the problem. In "A Theory of Limited Differences: Explaining the Productivity Puzzle in Science," the authors describe how women are often the subject of subtle, less identifiable forms of discrimination. These come in what Cole and Singer call "kicks," such as not getting a desired postdoctoral fellowship. The authors suggest in part that women lag behind men in publishing scientific papers because they have experienced cumulatively more negative kicks than their male counterparts.

Dean Faust said that she was grateful to have been invited to participate in the forum and that she has been, "assigned with the task of trying to make this moment at Harvard–this focus of concern and this mobilization of interest and anxiety about gender issues–into a transformational opportunity for the University."

The Task Force on Women Faculty is chaired by Evelynn Hammonds, Professor of History of Science and of African and African-American Studies in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The group is charged with making recommendations for a series of specific institutional measures–including the creation of a new, senior position at the center of the University–to strengthen the recruitment, support, and advancement of outstanding women faculty in the University. Sue Goldie, associate professor of health decision science in the Department of Health Policy and Management, is a member.

The second committee, the Task Force on Women in Science and Engineering, is chaired by Barbara Grosz, Higgins Professor of Natural Sciences in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Dean of Science at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. The group will analyze and make recommendations concerning effective ways to build and sustain the "pipeline" of women pursuing academic careers in science. HSPH faculty members Megan Murray, assistant professor of epidemiology in the Department of Epidemiology, and Laurie Glimcher, Irene Heinz Given Professor of Immunology in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, are participants. More extensive information is available at the Harvard Gazette, www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2005/02.10/01-taskforce.html.

So what’s to be done? A number of attendees suggested that Harvard officials review a study on the status of women completed by MIT, available on the web at http://web.mit.edu/fnl/women/women.html. The report considered differences between men and women in factors such as nine-month salary paid from individual research grants, teaching assignments, awards and distinctions, inclusion on important committees, and space allocations.

Kimberly Thompson, associate professor of risk analysis and decision science in the Department of Health Policy and Management, called for a similar, scientifically rigorous analysis to be done at Harvard. R. Heather Palmer, professor of health policy and management in the Department of Health Policy and Management, seconded the idea, noting that it was important to go beyond investigating male and female faculty salaries in order to compare space allocations, resources, and logistical support. A doctoral student suggested an examination of institutional supports for faculty, such as the availability of administrative staff, to explore why some researchers publish more than others. She also recommended that more funding be made available for travel to conferences, where networking and possible future collaborations can be cultivated.

Establishing a standing committee on women at HSPH that would involve faculty was suggested. In the past, the School had convened a committee on the concerns of women. When Dean Bloom came to HSPH, he appointed a Junior Faculty Mentoring Committee to pursue a key concern of the Committee on Concerns of Women for all junior faculty. The report of that committee has been adopted and incorporated into a program established by Academic Affairs in 2000. The School has also participated in a joint committee on the status of women that includes HMS and HSDM, but the issues undertaken by the joint committee were eventually considered too dissimilar from those facing HSPH members.

The tug between family and home life emerged as a frequent concern. The long hours expected in the culture of scientific research may be off-putting. A research scientist at the forum said that she was amazed so few of her peers are pursuing a professorship track, but understood why. "Can I be happy working 80 hours a week?" she asked. Frank Speizer, Edward H. Kass Professor of Medicine at HMS and Professor of Environmental Science in the Department of Environmental Health, suggested that additional financial resources be made available to junior faculty with young families to enable them to maintain both their research programs and to manage their family obligations. He referred to a program at HMS called the Eleanor and Miles Shore 50th Anniversary Program for Scholars in Medicine. The program has provided more than $7 million in support for junior faculty who are following academic careers while carrying heavy personal or family responsibilities.

As the task forces on women at Harvard get underway, one student expressed a desire that students as a group remain in the loop. Another cautioned that women not measure themselves according to men’s yardsticks. She urged that women embrace how they differ from men. In the best scientific tradition, a doctoral student studying cancer suggested a study into how genes and the environment play a role in people’s pursuit of science and engineering.

A few attendees suggested that male participation in gender equity efforts would be vital. "Everyone at Harvard needs to own this problem," noted Dean Faust. Already, she said, a group of male faculty at FAS is forming a petition to show their support. HSPH Professor Stephen Marks agreed with others that the issue was not only about women, and offered to join in whatever initiative might be launched to engage men constructively in understanding and acting to overcome obstacles to women’s careers in science. Echoing that idea, HSPH Assistant Professor Jonathan Levy urged that gender issues be considered holistically to improve the quality of life for everyone. He said that many men feel torn by the demands of work and family and would also like to see a better balance of the two.

Both Deans Bloom and Faust emphasized that they are seeking input from the Harvard community. Suggestions from HSPH members may be sent to womenstf@hsph.harvard.edu or through the web site at http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/women_in_science/.