Women and underrepresented minorities are receiving the doctorate in record numbers these days. For example, women got 45 percent and minorities 19 percent of the 39,955 doctoral degrees awarded in 2000, and both figures were all-time highs. So it comes as something of a surprise to learn that senior academic women in science and engineering are almost uniformly gloomy about what's happening in their fields. Dr. Donna Nelson, an associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Oklahoma, has done a study. It's an exhaustive look at the status of women and minorities in 14 science and engineering disciplines at the nation's top 50 departments. Her findings put flesh on the bones of Cobb's intuitive sense of the landscape in her field. This document examines her findings.