A Cornell study of the top 100 US universities show only 8.8-15.8% of tenure-track science and math positions are held by women. The absence of women can be attributed to fertility and work/life balance choices, and career preferences. Women who have a family are more likely to put careers on hold or leave. Women are also more likely to choose careers focusing on people. This preference accounts in part for the lack of female engineers, physicists, and mathematicians. Gender Equity Committees have made suggestions to accommodate women with families including reductions in responsibilities for women with newborns and adjusting the length of time to work on grants.
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