We’ve advanced somewhat, but we still have a long road ahead of us.

Athletics have been trying to make strides in gender equity, and much has been accomplished. At the beginning of March, statistics showed that ISU ranked 16th nationally in gender equity compliance among Division I universities. It’s great that our Cyclones have come to this point. It’s great that ISU women’s athletics are making names for themselves — and going beyond that. The women’s basketball team demonstrated its success and determination throughout the season and when they played in the Big 12 and NCAA Tournaments.

Despite the lengths ISU athletics have made, there is still more to be accomplished, in athletics and other fields.

Women have been traveling an “unfinished journey” to be recognized as an important, influential and necessary part of science. Earlier this week, Mary Sue Coleman, president of the University of Iowa, discussed challenges women in science and engineering face at state universities.

Coleman, a scientist herself, stressed the importance of affirmative action and related efforts. Women have made important strides in science, and their efforts should be noticed. Adding women faculty, students and researchers to state university science and engineering programs is the way to do it.

The University of Iowa ranks first in the nation in sheer numbers of female, tenure-tracked faculty in science, Coleman said. In fact, U of I has modeled its women in science programs after ISU. Apparently, ISU is also at the top of the pile when it comes to women in science.

But, as in athletics, we still have a long road ahead of us.

Only when the scale is tipped to favor equality will women, along with the fields of science and engineering, stop being shortchanged.

Only then will it be that women are living to their full academic and athletic potential. Only then will the world reap the benefits of a group of bright minds and physical talent.