Amid the St. Patrick’s Day festivities, some students and faculty members made time to attend the Careers in Science lecture in the Union yesterday.

The lecture, entitled “Balancing Career and Family: Tough Choices,” was given by Dr. Gail M. Ashley, director of the Quaternary Studies Program at Rutgers University. It focused mainly on the balancing act that many women in academia do when it comes to having both a career and a family.

In a slide show presentation, Ashley discussed how opportunities for women in the workforce are increasing due to affirmative action, family planning, and longer life expectancy. She showed that even though opportunities are increasing, there still are very few women who held high positions in academia, especially in the field of science.

The number of women in science is dwindling as women move up the academic ladder, Ashley said. Forty percent of students who graduate with a Bachelor of Science are women, but only 7 percent of science professors are women, she said.

After the presentation, Ashley encouraged an open discussion of reasons why so many women who have bachelor’s degrees don’t go on to hold higher positions in academia. Among the suggestions given, inadequate mentoring, expectations for women to raise children and academia being unaccommodating for women were the reasons most agreed upon.

Ashley added that much of the problem has to do with the current tenure. She said that it was developed by men for men at a time when having a family wasn’t an issue for them. There are equal opportunities for women, but tenure guidelines haven’t changed, she said.

“The present tenure criteria need to be modified,” Ashley said.

“In order to be inclusive for women, some adjustments should be made to be more family friendly.”

Ashley suggested that having split positions with tenure is one way to accommodate women who also want families.

Dr. Margaret Yacobucci, assistant professor of geology at the University, said she hopes more pursue careers in science.

“We need more women students in academic science, getting PhDs and being professors so they can be role models for future students,” she said.

Yacobucci added that it is important to bring women like Ashley to the University so students can see that it is possible to have a prominent career and a family regardless of the obstacles.