Should there be affirmative action for women in science? Heather Buschman, a science writer for the Consortium for Functional Glycomics, poses that question at the Naturejobs careers advice forum (http://tinyurl.com/65x54m). “Wouldn't it do more harm than good,” she wonders, “to punish departments or universities if they don't recruit enough women to science?”

Her post provoked a debate about why women drop out of science career tracks and possible solutions. Heather Etchevers, an embryologist at INSERM in France, says an affirmative action policy need not be punishment. “On the contrary,” she writes, “it could be an opportunity to praise certain policies and highlight them as examples.” And Hilary Spencer, product development manager for Nature Precedings, points to a report suggesting that factors beyond family matters, such as reward systems based on taking big risks, are important in female attrition.

Forum moderator Paul Smaglik notes that the tricky part will be finding ways to level the playing field without diminishing the success of women who have already made the climb unaided.