Sentence:  One of academia's <WSD>deficiencies</WSD> is that, though its lecture halls and graduate schools are replete with women, its higher echelons are not. Often, this is seen as a phenomenon specific to the sciences. ... In fact, the disparity applies to the whole grove. Another report from 2006, by the American Association of University Professors, found the same ratio in the faculties of arts, humanities and social science, too. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  An insufficiency, especially of something essential to health.