Students take woman to be equal (5)
I believe the answer is:
level
'be equal' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'students take woman' is the wordplay.
'students' becomes 'll'.
'take' indicates putting letters inside.
'woman' becomes 'eve' (Eve is an example**).
'll' enclosing 'eve' is 'LEVEL'.
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for level that I've seen before include "Experience an evening out" , "Not in front or behind" , "Even - equal" , "Absolutely horizontal" , "Floor; surveying device" .)