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We will have to be very vigilant that young female scientists have the same opportunities as their male colleagues.

Female physicists, astronomers and mathematicians are up against more than 2,000 years of convention that has long portrayed these fields as inherently male.

When I was a physics major in the late 1970s, my very few fellow female students and I had high hopes that women would soon stand equal with men in science. But progress has proved slower than many of us imagined.

I had a difficult time getting my arms around Einstein's work, even when I was a physics major at one of the top universities in India.

I think that issues of gender have been discussed widely at Harvard. But I think I was chosen clearly on the merits, and I wish to operate as president on the merits. I think, on one level, we might say that I can affirm that women have the aptitude to do science or to do anything, including being president of Harvard.

Affirmative action makes employers think, 'Black woman nuclear physicist? Hah! Probably let her into Harvard 'cause they were looking for a twofer. Bet she got C's in high school practical math. Give her a job in personnel.'

I happen to have worked with male directors who don't understand women at all. Not at all. I'm flabbergasted by their ignorance.

When men hold the greater majority of all professional positions of power, it is impossible for a woman to advance her career without the support of men.

In a way, it has been an advantage for me to be a woman because there is always some academic committee that needs you to fill a quota!

It's time for male leaders to not only ask for binders of qualified women, but to re-write the definition of 'qualified.' The best man for the job, may in fact, be a woman, whose biography is not traditional, but is rich with experiences and skills that are not necessarily learned either in school or on the job.