December 3, 2004

Where the Elite Teach, It's Still a Man's World

The women who do get hired at major research universities often find a 'toxic atmosphere'

By Robin Wilson

It has been a decade since Nancy Hopkins first complained of gender inequities at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and galvanized other top research universities to hire more female scholars. But when the presidents of nine leading institutions discussed the issue last spring, Ms. Hopkins says, the question was the same: "Where the hell are all the women?"

At first glance, higher education today might seem like a woman's world. Women make up about 60 percent of the