Women faculty disproportionately leave academia by their second or third semester and experience slow rates of tenure and promotion. What then, may cause women faculty, both White and of color, to leave early or conversely, to stay through tenure? With a critical feminist framework, this article presents qualitative research into women's experiences at research universities from a job satisfaction and institutional fit perspective and concludes with a discussion of what might assist women faculty's career satisfaction and eventual promotion with tenure. The 22 women who participated in this study reported working with students as highly influential. Interactions with students, both positive and negative, are a window into understanding the faculty experience.