Professors who have long urged Harvard to implement reforms benefiting female faculty members say they found an administrative ear this semester, after University President Lawrence H. Summers’ comments on women’s “intrinsic aptitude” for science threw the problems faced by female faculty members into the spotlight.

In the aftermath of Summers’ remarks—which were delivered at a Jan. 14 National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) conference and made media headlines nationwide—administrators convened the Task Forces on Women Faculty and Women in Science and Engineering.

On May 16, the task forces released their recommendations, which apply to all levels of the pipeline leading to science careers, from undergraduates and graduate students to postdoctoral fellows and junior and senior faculty members.

And Summers threw his support behind the task forces with a $50 million pledge dedicated to their goals.

“We recognized that the crisis in January offered us an opportunity to make long overdue progress toward creating a Harvard that was more hospitable and supportive of deserving women and minorities,” Jones Professor of American Studies Lizabeth Cohen, a member of the Task Force on Women Faculty, writes in an e-mail.

“The guiding vision of the report was to generate a set of recommendations at each of the academic career stage levels,” says Higgins Professor of Natural Sciences Barbara J. Grosz, chair of the Task Force on Women in Science and Engineering.

The task forces’ comprehensive attention to the pipeline, professors say, puts Harvard at the forefront of universities.

But in other areas—including the creation of a senior vice-provost position for diversity and faculty development and the recommendation of programs to help female faculty members balance work and family obligations—faculty members and outside experts say that Harvard has simply aligned itself with, rather than surpassed, peer institutions.

Many say the injection of cash into the initiative is just a starting point—and that deeper cultural change and an infrastructure that emphasizes accountability are needed before the recommendations can have a lasting impact.

“Right now there’s this great sense of urgency around these issues,” Grosz says. “The major challenge is going to be sustaining that energy. I hope that will happen through setting up various accountable structures, so maybe we won’t have to operate in panic mode,” Grosz continues.

FROM THE GROUND UP

The task forces recommended the creation of a senior vice-provost post for diversity and faculty development. The vice-provost—who administrators say will be appointed by the fall—will oversee the recruitment of faculty and will review all junior faculty hires and tenure appointments.

Dean of the Faculty William C. Kirby said at the May 17 full Faculty meeting that he will create a position within FAS that will serve as a liaison between FAS and the new vice-provost.

In addition, the task force reports called for the creation of an “endowment or some other durable funding mechanism” to support “targeted hiring.” The eventual goal is to appoint 40 additional faculty members over the next five years.

To create a more hospitable atmosphere for female faculty members, post-doctorate fellows, and graduate students, the reports also recommended that Harvard adopt policies, like childcare funds and the extension of paid maternity leave to one semester, to help faculty members balance work and family.