International and national studies aside, the circumstances at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation provide a window into the issues. Notably, women accounted for 40 percent of new hires at OMRF in the last decade. Although women make up a significant percentage of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and young faculty in science today, nationwide only a relatively small fraction of the senior faculty ranks are filled by women. OMRF does considerably better. Of the 29 senior faculty here, seven are women, representing nearly one quarter of the senior staff.
Several factors come into play.
Consequently, these scientists must strike a delicate balance between work and family. While this can be difficult for both women and men, women often bear a disproportionate share of a family's workload when children are small. Thus, the scientist who concentrates on his or her research, without the additional challenges and demands of a family, may experience more professional opportunities than a female scientist who splits time between work and family. While the sample size is too small to be statistically significant, it is interesting that the only three women who have attained full member rank at OMRF have no children at home. As a first step, more women should be recruited into the sciences.