MIT study finds gender discrimination in science

The fields of math and science, historically male dominated, have also been marked by another flaw - gender discrimination.

Now the results of a five-year study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on the intersection of these two areas are prompting administrators to re-examine causes and possible solutions regarding discrimination against female faculty members.

The report, whose final results are posted on the Internet at http://web.mit.edu/fnl/women/women.html, shows discrepancies between the male and female faculty who teach in MIT's School of Science in areas including salary, space allocation, teaching assignments, awards and inclusion in committees and assignments within departments.

Leigh Royden, who teaches geo-physics at MIT and was a member of the study's first research committee, said the university's science departments are autonomous and that much important business - including hiring, promotion and graduate admissions - are done by people assigned to committees.

"If women aren't on these committees, they're locked out of important decisions," Royden said, adding that society views men as stronger intellectual leaders then women. "Then they have no say in the future of these departments."

In addition, informal inter-faculty mixing and discussions may often exclude women, she said, leading to a lower awareness factor when making decisions.

The study also included interviews with women professors - who make up 31 of the 266 instructors in the School of Science - and their responses displayed feelings of "invisibility" and "marginalization," especially as they progressed to senior, tenured faculty member positions.

"There's a reluctance to put women in positions of power," Royden said, explaining that senior faculty members said they felt equal with men when they began teaching but found less support after being tenured.

Neither MIT nor the University of Michigan has had a female department head in science-related departments.

"Men are usually more comfortable in the position of providing guidance," said University Prof. Lynn Walter, a senior faculty member in geological sciences. "It's like a puppy. Who doesn't want to help?"

When senior female professors begin to challenge male colleagues, Walter said, they may view it as direct competition. It comes down to who makes the decisions, she added.

The MIT report maintains that the underlying basis for the discrepancies and attitudes is gender discrimination of the most subtle and unconscious nature.

"They thought they were doing okay," she said.

Carolina Lithgow-Bertelloni, an assistant professor in geo-physics at the University, said that because much discrimination is no longer as obvious, many men may think it no longer exists, but it is a "matter of perception." She said she has "experienced comments" and has been ignored at scientific meetings when speaking.

"It's much more common than people think," Bertelloni said. "These days it's just not as conscious or malicious."

One aspect of the study many have found most striking is MIT's response to its findings. While the committee has no power to make changes, Royden said, "making it a big issue" and "keeping it on the front burner" are important steps in bettering the situation.

"The dean of (the School of) Science responded immediately to undo some of the inequities," said Lotte Bailyn, who is the chair of faculty at MIT. She said she met with MIT officials and faculty members yesterday to begin exploring ways to implement change.

Nancy Hopkins, a biology professor at MIT and chair of the first committee, said the university was "convinced by the data and got to work to fix it right away."

She also said that she hopes other schools within MIT, as well other universities, will be able to use their study as a model and "maintain a monitoring process so things won't slide."

But while Hopkins admitted that "it's hard to change something that's unconscious," the key is putting the prevention factor into the system.

"You change the system and people's hearts and minds will follow," she said.

03-25-99