At a recent forum on women in science at Yale, nearly 20 percent of the audience was male. One of the men, a graduate student in computer science, asked, "What can I do to help?" Meg Urry [a professor of physics and astronomy at Yale], who often has just the right answer ready, responded with one concrete suggestion: "Have you ever been in a group discussion when a woman expresses an idea, then a man makes the same point later and gets credit for it?" The grad student nodded. "You, as a man, could point out that the woman made the suggestion just moments ago."

Women, on the other hand, also need to overcome their own biases. For example, though it is undeniable that many women are paid less than men who do comparable work, women are less inclined to be confrontational on issues like salary. Women's traditionally collegial style—often, a good thing—can work against them. When a submitted paper is rejected by a scientific journal, is a woman lab head as likely as a man to fight back and somehow get the manuscript published? I have talked to several editors who say those data are available and could be examined if someone had the time and inclination to do so.

Somebody should do that study. More important, women need to be willing to confront adverse situations when they arise. The principal investigator is supposed to fight. How hard you fight, whether over an inappropriately rejected paper or some other injustice, and whether gender-related or not, can make a huge difference.

Much would be gained if universities reassessed their own policies. They haven't changed much since the 1930s, when virtually all faculty were men with wives at home supporting their needs. Times have changed, however, for men and women alike, and universities need to change as well. They must review their procedures, major and minor, on such things as promotion criteria, the nature of people's jobs, and even the time of day that meetings are held. If the academic system indeed becomes more family friendly, both sexes will benefit.

I am very encouraged by the February selection of Drew Gilpin Faust as the next Harvard president. When I started as a faculty member in 1970, women were barely represented on the faculties of research universities. The appointment of a woman to such a position was unthinkable. But today, according to the search committee, she was simply the best-qualified candidate for the job.

Joan Steitz is an HHMI investigator at Yale University School of Medicine.

Interview by Cori Vanchieri

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