ABSTRACT
Several women said they had suspected a problem, but most said they did not want to know what the really bad news might be. Women cannot talk about their children in the faculty coffee room, or in the classroom, or even in the hallway. The central problems are archetypal and therefore difficult to attack. The maleness of certain positions and certain behaviors in the minds of the university community is hard to overcome. More women have recently entered the department at the lower ranks. More men do serve and have nearly always served on our faculty personnel committee and on our departmental council. Despite women’s best efforts at self-advocacy, they need the proactive support of leaders who can change the basic nature of any system. Women faculty and the administrators and colleagues on personnel committees responsible for their welfare must continue to resist entrenched cultural expectations.
