Using a queuing framework, the authors investigate explanations for wo
men's inroads into academic sociology since 1970. Women's entry has oc
curred most dramatically among sociology doctorates, with women now re
presenting about half of all those awarded PhDs. Access to faculty pos
itions has been more modest: Approximately one in four faculty members
are currently women. From a systematic review of research on women's
achievements in sociology, publications produced by sociology's profes
sional association, and other statistical sources, the authors focus o
n three major explanations for women's increased access to academic so
ciology. First, men eschewed graduate training in sociology as researc
h and development funding dropped. real earnings declined, and the aca
demic labor market contracted. Second, in the 1970s academic employers
increasingly turned to women, in part because of the salience of anti
-discrimination legislation and also because women sociologists genera
ted pressure for change. Third, women themselves increasingly chose gr
aduate training in sociology because sociology's subject matter lent i
tself to the inclusion of issues central to their lives. Although the
numbers studying for advanced degrees in sociology (and the number of
sociology PhDs) are once again increasing, it is too early to tell whe
ther women will make further inroads, or whether the, ir numbers will
remain stable or decline.