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I recently conducted research on the gender make-up of the panels announced for the research excellence framework. The methodology employed was counting (I'm not very good at it, so the results should be regarded as approximate). There are 51 male panellists and eight female. Chairs are evenly divided, with two each. Three of the four secretaries are female (well done, ladies!).

Sadly, funding was exhausted before it was possible to count the positions of the runners-up - the panel advisers - where the "fairer sex" may indeed have picked up one or two assistant roles as consolation. You can see where this is going. Let's hear it for the boys!

David Ayers, Professor of modernism and critical theory, University of Kent