UT administrators say they want to hire more women in the sciences.
In UT's 2003-04 Faculty Salary Study, male faculty outnumbered women 161-31 in the natural science departments and the currently outnumber them 113 to 7 in the College of Engineering.
``I think there is (competition for qualified women) and what comes into play is money,'' said Christine Boake, head of UT's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. ``Another university may have a way to accommodate a spouse or may be able to get a much fancier piece of equipment than we can afford.''
Even though more women are entering graduate programs in science-related disciplines than in years past, the number of women professors in those fields remains small.
``We have only three because it is very difficult to find women in this field,'' said Soren Sorensen, head of UT's Department of Physics and Astronomy.
Despite attempts by university leaders to encourage qualified women to apply for jobs in those fields, he said sometimes the only qualified applicants are males.
``People try,'' said Dr. Claudia Mora, head of UT's Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. ``I mean UT, I've watched them run some searches in biology where they find very good women and they try very hard, but they aren't able to hire them because someone else makes them a better offer.''
— Associated Press
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