More response to remarks by Harvard Prez: two women's task forces, major criticism.(Lawrence Summers)

Harvard President Lawrence Summers may learn to keep his thoughts to himself. Worldwide outrage has followed his controversial comments in January suggesting women might be underrepresented in science and engineering due to innate gender differences.

In an attempt to pacify his critics, Summers recently announced two new initiatives to improve the status of female faculty at Harvard.

* The Task Force on Women Faculty will work to create a senior position in the administration to oversee efforts on increasing gender diversity among Harvard's faculty. It will also seek to ensure women are being considered for positions of leadership and will also look for new ways to support women who are balancing work and family.

* The Task Force on Women in Science and Engineering will explore factors that affect women interested in science and engineering careers, and work to remove career barriers.

Feminists, Harvard faculty and scientists had criticized Summers for ignoring research that shows societal and cultural beliefs as the biggest obstacle to women's advancement in academic math and science careers. Summers named 22 women and five men to participate in the task forces, including Barbara Grosz, dean of science at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. "Our job is not to write a report and do analysis," Grosz said. "I have assurances in writing ... they ...