The conference, which is in its fifth year, provides a forum for young girls to engage in a dialogue about subjects such as body image, peer pressure, friendship and boys. The Sister-to-Sister conference followed Tuesday's Boys Speak Out conference, a similar conference geared toward addressing emotional issues for young boys.
Sister-to-Sister was created as a way to encourage girls to pursue careers in math and science, but its organizers quickly realized that there were many factors hindering girls' success in the classroom.
Some changes to the program were inspired by a report from the American Association of University Women showing that girls can face a dramatic drop in self-esteem and a loss of confidence if they do not discuss what the report called the "evaded curriculum," which includes girls' emotional concerns.
"It's not just teachers and textbooks that determine girls' academic achievements. A significant part of the equation is what happens in the hallways, between classes and even outside of school," the report stated.
The conference included small group discussions, speakers, panels of undergraduate students and time for the girls to talk with peers from across the Upper Valley.
"Our hope is that once these girls speak their minds and voice their struggles together, with their peers and with women Dartmouth students, they will come to realize that their experiences are extraordinarily common. This is most empowering," Sister-to-Sister coordinator Allison Reed '06 said.
The conference was sponsored by the Center for Women and Gender, the departments of biology, mathematics and women and gender studies as well as Programming Board, the Women in Science Project and the Thayer School of Engineering.
The success of Sister-to-Sister inspired the creation of Boys Speak Out, a similar conference aimed at providing a safe and supportive environment for boys to discuss issues such as violence, bullying, depression and sexuality. The Boys Speak Out conference was founded by a Dartmouth graduate, Anthony Webb '03, who is the president of the Georgia-based non-profit, Boys Speak Out Inc.
At the conference the boys were greeted by Susan Wright, President James Wright's wife. Then they watched the movie "Tough Guise," participated in a treasure hunt and took part in small group discussions facilitated by Dartmouth students.
One of biggest challenges was getting the boys to open up and speak with the rest of the group, according to Brad Hogate '05, the Dean's Project Intern at the Tucker Foundation.
Dave Sampayo '08, this year's coordinator for Boys Speak Out, said other challenges included getting enough financial support to transport and feed over 100 boys for the afternoon and finding male volunteers. Sampayo said the president's office and the dean's office helped this year's conference by donating one thousand dollars each.
Webb attended this year's conference to give a speech and to "refresh [his] feel for how the day works."
"It was quite impressive to see the job the Dartmouth students have done with the forum, and it is an honor to know that they still do things exactly how the founders started them," Webb said.
