The present study addresses women's underrepresentation in the academic profession, as well as the need for policies and practices aimed at this issue. It compares underrepresentation of academic women in North American countries, and explores, throughout a bivariate analysis, personal, professional, as well as institutional variables related to this phenomenon. The results of the study, corroborated with national-level data on faculty in the focal countries, showed that the underrepresentation of full-time university faculty, in relation to the percentage of women who earned a PhD, was evident in the participating countries, regardless of the level of development of their economies, as well as of their higher education systems. The study shows that the select few women who remain in the system long enough to secure a tenure-track appointment are not only educational survivors, but also characteristically different from both the men and the women in their peer groups. (Contains 6 tables and 2 footnotes.)