Rosalind C.  Barnett, Ph.D., is a senior scientist at the Women's Studies Research Center at Brandeis University and coauthor with Caryl Rivers of The Truth About Girls and Boys: Challenging Toxic Stereotypes About Our Children, published by Columbia University Press, and The New Soft War on Women: How the Myth of Female Ascendance Is Hurting Women, Men—And Our Economy, by Tarcher/Penguin.

A recent study revealed that reading about women’s success makes young men nervous—but the finding’s just the latest proof that women still face serious obstacles on the road to equality, say gender studies experts Caryl Rivers and Rosalind C. Barnett.