However, there were more tenure cases total, hence, it was easier to get more women in absolute numbers. The people coming up next year seem to be more males. In 1998, the School of Humanities and Social Sciences reported 25 percent of tenured faculty were female. Of course, the Institute average of 10 percent is better than it used to be. When Karen Arenson '70, a former Alumni Association president, graduated in economics, 1.8 percent of the Institute's total faculty were women.
Progress is more evident among women students than faculty.
In 1997-98, women made up 40 percent of undergraduate students and 25 percent of the graduate population. In 1970, women totaled only 8 percent of both undergraduate and graduate student groups. President Charles Vest HM is widely viewed as a leader in the effort to balance the faculty profile. He often points to the progress in bringing more women students, who were once considered less qualified, to the Institute. I'm pleased to say that the last year or two have seen some significant advances in both hiring and tenuring women in the sciences and engineering, but they must be sustained.