Sentence Structure 'These questions are political in the sense that the debate over them will inevitably be less an exploration of abstract matters in a spirit of disinterested inquiry than an academic power struggle in which the careers and professional fortunes of many women scholars--only now entering the academic profession in substantial numbers--will be at stake, and with 'them' the chances for a distinctive contribution to humanistic understanding, a contribution that might be an important influence against sexism in our society. 'In the sentence, 'them' which I quoted to hightlight, refers to what? How to judge whether it refers to 'women' or to 'fortunes'?