What can be done at the faculty level?

• Shared governance and a high level of democracy is a strong asset in recruiting women faculty members.

• Hire female faculty. Until equity is achieved:
  • Actively recruit good women candidates; don't just wait for them to apply.

  • After they interview, stay in contact to let them know that you would welcome them as a colleague.

  • Be aware of biases that might appear in recommendation letters and try to avoid undervaluing a female candidate because of them.
  • If two candidates rank virtually the same, and if law permits, make the offer to the woman candidate first.

• Support qualified women as candidates for administrative positions such as department head, dean, and higher.
• Invite more female seminar speakers and longer term visitors and make them visible to students. By their presence, these visitors tell women students that they have a future, and they tell the male students that they are preparing for a career in which they need to deal with male and female peers.

• Support qualified women candidates for heading departments or divisions.

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``I think men have a hard time collaborating with women (in either research or general lab activities) until there are enough women around that they feel comfortable and have productive expectations of women colleagues.... When enough women are around, the fraternity atmosphere becomes a society, a community.''
C. Sidner, AAAI fellow and a member of the research staff at Digital's Cambridge Research Laboratory

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