Study Calls for Tenure Flexibility

Q. When doesn't ``exceptional'' mean ``an exception''? A. THAT'S NOT FUNNY!

Also on Thursday, three other university presidents - Shirley Tilghman of Princeton, Susan Hockfield of MIT and John Hennessy of Stanford - issued their own letter responding to Summers' comments. The Harvard president suggested at a conference last month that innate differences between the sexes may partly explain why fewer women than men reach top university science jobs.

"Speculation that 'innate differences' may be a significant cause of underrepresentation by women in science and engineering may rejuvenate old myths and reinforce negative stereotypes and biases," wrote the three presidents, all scientists by training.

They continued: "The question we must ask as a society is not 'can women excel in math, science and engineering?' - Marie Curie exploded that myth a century ago - but 'how can we encourage more women with exceptional abilities to pursue careers in these fields?'"