Affiliates Back Letter

Over 6,000 professors, students, and researchers from around the country, including at least a dozen from Harvard, presented a letter to Congress last week requesting more initiatives to increase women’s participation in math, science, and engineering.

The letter came four months after University President Lawrence H. Summers’ remarks about women in science sparked national debate. On Monday, the University announced a $50 million initiative to remedy the shortage of women in math and science at Harvard.

Organizers presented the letter last Wednesday to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sen. George Allen, R-Va., who chaired hearings on women in science in 2002 for the Senate subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space.

Noting that the “recent debate” about the role of women in math and science has illuminated the shortage of women in these fields, the letter called for a “broad-ranging inquiry” and asked Congress to take action to increase the numbers of women entering these disciplines.

Suggestions outlined in the letter include a comprehensive investigation into the factors affecting women in math and science as well as concrete actions such as increased fellowships and mentoring for women.

Available for signature since mid-February, the letter was circulated over the internet by numerous organizations, including MentorNet, a non-profit organization that provides online mentoring to encourage women’s participation in math and science, the Association for Women in Science, the Society of Women Engineers, and the Association for Women in Mathematics.

MentorNet CEO Carol Muller called the project a collaborative effort, but said that plans to address the issue were already underway before Summers’ January remarks, in which he suggested that “differences in intrinsic aptitude” may account for the underrepresentation of women in math and science.

“The remarks ignited a very interesting and productive national discussion, and it was certainly the national discussion coupled with five years of discussions about Title IX that, combined, served as the impetus,” Muller said.

According to a press release on Wyden’s website, a 2004 Government Accountability Office report found that many government agencies receiving federal funding to uphold equal treatment of women under Title IX, such as NASA and the National Science Foundation, were not succeeding.

Last Wednesday’s letter warned that, if steps are not taken to increase the number of women in math and science fields, “our nation runs the risk not only of losing its technological prowess, but its national security as well.”

Muller said that both senators seemed interested in taking action in response to the letter. According to Muller, Allen discussed the need for more females to graduate with math and science degrees. Muller said Wyden referred to a discussion with U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings about the possibility of creating a national task force to address the issue this summer.

Amal Ahmed, a postdoctoral fellow in computer science at Harvard, said she signed the letter after it was forwarded to her over e-mail.

“President Summers has helped bring more awareness to this issue, and it is an issue that needs to be looked at,” she said.

Ahmed added that, while she believes more concrete congressional changes probably will take some time to occur, she sees changes happening already at individual universities.

Roy R. Ruhling, a research assistant in Harvard’s psychology department, said that he was motivated to sign the letter after learning through his research that most people have a stronger association between men and science than between women and science.

“I’d like to see more funding, scholarships, and encouragement available for women in math and science, but I don’t know if that will happen,” he said.

—Staff writer Anna M. Friedman can be reached at amfriedm@fas.harvard.edu.