One of the nation's top-ranked business schools is "inhospitable to women faculty," according to an internal academic review.

Faculty of the Anderson Graduate School of Management at University of California, Los Angeles, received a confidential copy of the review, conducted by a group of university professors and outside business-school deans, in April. The next day, the institution's first female dean, Judy Olian, met with the heads of several other elite business schools at the White House, where the group discussed business schools' roles in making workplaces friendlier to women and working families.

Back on campus, many professors noted the irony. Among the findings of the report, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal: Anderson is inconsistent in how it hires and promotes women as compared with men; has created "gender ghettos" in certain academic areas; and shows a "lack of confidence" in female faculty.

Dr. Olian said her administration is taking the findings seriously, and that the climate for women has been a priority since she became dean eight years ago. "This is going to require a lot more than numbers and policies. It's really soul-searching," Dr. Olian said. "I have to ask myself, what here might have had unintended consequences? And what subtle things should we, can we, must we be doing to improve the climate?"

Dr. Olian has notched many accomplishments during her tenure at Anderson: She raised $190 million for the school, successfully wrested administrative control away from the state education system and, in the past four years, oversaw a 60% jump in full-time M.B.A. applications.