Following the sixth consecutive election of a male to the Student Assembly presidency, a new campus discourse has emerged, focusing on the continued failure of women to assume leadership positions at the College.
Male and female student leaders gathered for the first time last Friday to brainstorm the causes of and potential solutions to the current gender inequity.
The meeting, led by Dean of Student Life Holly Sateia, came during a year in which few women were selected for prominent leadership positions.
Members of the group suggested an enhanced mentor program, more accessible female role models and a more widespread recognition of leadership shortcomings as possible approaches to achieving greater balance.
"I don't think the burden should be on women to get involved. I think it should be on everyone," said Student Assembly president-elect Jorge Miranda '01, who pledged to put gender on the Assembly's agenda. "I think it's a major concern on this campus and the Assembly needs to make it an issue and concentrate its efforts on it."
Many members of the group said that one of the primary deterrents to electing women to visible positions is a male-dominated selection pool.
In the last four years, only one out of the 16 candidates running for president of the Assembly was female, as were only four out of the 10 who ran for the vice-presidency. Among the 14 students who sought the top Class Council positions in the past three years, three were female, making for a cumulative male to female ratio of roughly four to one.
"We're just not grooming or putting enough women into the pool," Sateia said.
While women are more active in Green Key, the Tucker Foundation and other service-oriented organizations, Sateia said men are numerically dominant in elected bodies such as the Committee on Standards.
"It says something about the type of activities women are involved in," she said.
Women who have tried but failed to assume top leadership positions said it will be difficult to break this cycle under the current political climate.
Meg Smoot '01, who ran an unsuccessful bid for Assembly president and whose candidacy marked the first female challenge for that position in four years, said the campus is, in general, skeptical of women holding key positions.
"A lot of the things I got was, 'Why are you even going to run when you know that all this campus elects is men?'" Smoot said. "I think that a lot of the campaign politics that goes on on this campus is very discouraging" to females.
According to Molly Stutzman '02, who ran unsuccessfully to be Assembly vice-president, women do more work, but receive less credit.
She gave the example of her experience on freshman Class Council when the top three positions were held by males, but the majority of the tasks were completed by females.
Indeed, most of the 16 participants in Friday's discussion agreed that the competitive nature of student elections favors men. Some said that few women engage in the behind-the-scenes work that often results in the winnowing of the candidate field.
"Males tend to run on, 'Me, it's me. Vote for me,' while females talk more about ideas" in their campaigns, said Collin O'Mara '01, who currently holds the position of 2001 Class President.
Participants also highlighted a need for a stronger women's mentor program.
"[Women] often don't have people telling them, 'You're the future of the Assembly. We need you,'" explained Miranda.
Margaret Kuecker '01, the current vice-president of the Assembly, said that one need for a structured mentor program derives from traditional gender relations, in which men are more likely than women to adopt younger men as apprentices.
"I think the way older men relate to younger men is very different from the way older women relate to younger women," Kuecker said.
O'Mara said he has witnessed male students steer women away from important responsibilities.
"I've heard upper-class men discourage women in particular from tackling big issues because they're 'starry-eyed,'" he said.
Additionally, O'Mara said, there is a three to one female to male ratio in applicants for the Leadership Development Program offered by the College.
Sateia said such a pattern indicates that "Women still feel they have a lot to learn. 'Teach me how to lead.'"
