The patterns of tenure and promotion have been constant over successive cohorts, as shown in Table 12 . With such small numbers in the population, any findings are more suggestive than conclusive. There is always the possibility that any given year might be anomalous because of external factors, and with small numbers in the cohorts, statistical analysis will always be difficult. The solution to this problem is to continue to replicate the study periodically and to examine faculty promotion issues in the context of several successive cohorts. The data shown in these updates provide evidence of a continuation of the trends identified in previous reports.
Women continue to show increases at all faculty ranks.
While these changes may seem gradual, they become far more meaningful when viewed in the context of the many years normally spent at each faculty rank. As the larger numbers of women at the assistant professor rank advance in their careers, the proportion of women in the senior faculty positions will grow. Further, the promotion data suggest that women will advance in a manner and on a schedule consistent with those of the male faculty. Finally, the State System will continue to monitor the salary data and to address significant deviations from what would be expected, given the number of years in rank and market factors associated with specific academic disciplines. Current data do not indicate salary patterns at variance with what would be expected, given those factors.