When Dr. Molly Carnes received tenure in 1990 as a professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, it didn’t take long for her to realize that she was the only woman with tenure in her department.

Shocked, Carnes said she “became aware of the immense challenge facing women in academics” and decided to do something about it.

“You fight the battles you’re living,” Carnes said.

Since then, Carnes, who also is a professor in the departments of psychiatry and industrial and systems engineering at Wisconsin-Madison, has focused on educating faculty at her university and around the country about the challenges women face attaining leadership positions in the academy.

Carnes founded the Women in Science and Engineering Leadership Institute with Jo Handelsman at Wisconsin-Madison four years ago. The institute’s goal is to make “the gender of the faculty, chairs and deans of the departments of science and engineering reflect the gender of the student body,” according to its Web site at wiseli.engr.wisc.edu.

The institute conducts in-depth research on women's status at Wisconsin-Madison, offers workshops for selecting committees and department heads, hosts a lecture series and gives grants to keep women's labs operating when a family emergency interrupts research.

“Everyone at UW-Madison knows what WISELI is,” Carnes said. “The institute is central to the campus in many ways.”

The institute’s influence is not limited to science and engineering. It also offers workshops to any department that requests them. The workshops focus on the role unconscious bias against women can play in the hiring process and on how attitudes toward women can affect their changes for tenure and promotion.

“Now, three years later, we have shown that departments that had just one faculty member participate in one of our workshops saw the number of women offered positions or hired increase. In contrast, departments that didn’t send faculty decreased,” Carnes said.

Handelsman, a professor in the departments of plant pathology and industrial engineering, credits Carnes with the institute’s influence across departments.

“She convinces people of all fields, disciplines and of both genders that women’s advancement is important,” Handelsman said.

“She is fabulous at building coalitions and strategically helping people to work together,” Handlesman said.

Carnes has not only sought to advance women in the area of academics through the institute, but she has also founded Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Women’s Health Research, a research facility and clinic that addresses women’s health needs.

The center gives grants to post doctorates who wish to pursue research in women’s health and it provides mentors for researchers.

According to Carnes’ coworkers, the center has flourished because of her initiative and go-getter attitude.

“Molly is very enthusiastic and optimistic … she is always looking on the positive side of things,” said Gloria Sarto, co-director of the center.

Carnes is proud of what institutions like WISELI and CWHR have accomplished so far, and thinks interdisciplinary coalitions are the best way to push women’s advancement.

“To move past these unconscious assumptions we will have to hit this thing from all angles and make a collective offense,” Carnes said.

“It will take the will to want to change and the constant reminder that if we don’t change, we are ultimately condemning the future of academics. We just can’t allow that profligate waste of human capital,” Carnes said.

Although she acknowledges that female representation in the academy has increased, Carnes warns that the fight is not over yet.

“It saddens me when I see young women who think the issue is solved,” Carnes said. I’ve had young women tell me it is no longer a problem and then they’re back in my office in five years saying ‘Yeah, you’re right.’”