At four-year colleges and universities, particularly those at which either master's degrees or doctoral degrees are the highest degrees conferred, women continue to be underrepresented in the ranks of tenured faculty. At one time, the disparity could be explained by the paucity of women who had earned doctoral degrees and were otherwise qualified to teach at the university level. However, for almost twenty years, women have earned at least 40% of the doctoral degrees conferred, and currently that percentage is approaching 50%. Nonetheless the disparity at four year colleges between tenured male versus female faculty continues. This article questions why the disparity continues to exist and offers a proposal for how parity between female and male faculty might be attained. It concludes that although there are sufficient numbers of women qualified to hold entry-level positions, the structure of the traditional tenure system appears to be a cause for the disparity among tenured faculty. It further considers the anti-discrimination statutes and concludes that they do not serve as an effective remedy when bias occurs in evaluating women for tenure, which may explain the gender disparity among tenured faculty. This article proposes, as an alternative to the traditional tenure structure, consideration of a framework wherein either tenure no longer existed or was modified to result in periodically reviewable contracts. Finally, it analyzes how a different framework may impact parity between male and female faculty members.