interviewed officials at each agency and gathered documentation to 

 identify agency activities to ensure compUance w^ith Title IX. We analyzed 

 data from the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at Education and the Equal 

 Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) — the agencies where most 

 sex discrimination complaints are filed. Given its role as coordinating 

 agency of Title IX compliance, we also gathered data and interviewed 

 officials at the Department of Justice (Justice). We visited seven research 

 imiversities where we interviewed officials, students, and faculty.' We also 

 visited six national laboratories and technology centers where we talked 

 wdth administrators and scientists. ' To gather information on women's 

 participation and experiences in the sciences, we analyzed national data 

 from Education and NSF. We also reviewed literature about women in the 

 sciences and challenges they face preparing for and pursuing careers in 

 the sciences. To identify promising practices to promote women's 

 participation in the sciences, we spoke with students and practitioners. To 

 assess the reUabUity of the various Education and NSF data sources, we 

 reviewed documentation on how the data were collected and performed 

 electronic tests to look for missing or out-of-range values. In addition, we 

 reviewed the methodology of studies and reports using generally accepted 

 social science principles as a basis for including their results in our report. 

 On the basis of these reviews and tests, we found the data and studies 

 sufficiently reliable for oiu" purposes. We conducted our review from July 

 2003 through Jime 2004 in accordance with generally accepted 

 government auditing standards. (See app. I for a more extensive 

 explanation of this report's objectives, scope, and methodology.) 



Rpsults in Rripf Federal science agencies have made efforts to ensure that federal grant 



recipients comply wdth Title IX in the sciences by performing several 

 compliance activities, such as investigating complaints and providing 

 technical assistance, but most have not conducted all required monitoring 

 activities. Specifically, according to Energy, NASA, and NSF officials, each 

 agency referred complaints involving educational institutions to Education 

 and those involving employment to EEOC for investigation. Officials at 



"We used the Carnegie Classification of colleges and imiversities to categorize institutions 

 of higher education. For purposes of this report, institutions of higher education classified 

 as doctoral/research universities are referred to as research universities. 



Energy has designated 24 laboratories and technology centers as their preeminent 

 faculties where more than 30,000 scientists and engineers perform cutting-edge resccU'ch. 

 (See app. II for a fuU Msttng of Energy's nationad laboratories and technology centers.) 



Page 2 GAO-04-639 Gender Issues 



