The issue of gender equity in schools is older than the hills. Well, it's pretty old, at least. It therefore didn't surprise me to read the New York Times' recent series on the "gender gap" in higher education. The first article in the series finds that in colleges nationwide, men are less likely than women to receive bachelor's degrees, graduate in four or five years and earn top grades -- and more likely to spend their college years socializing rather than studying. Meanwhile, women are earning more honors degrees in a wider range of disciplines. It is a triumph for women's rights and a testament to the progress made on gender equality in America.
Right? However, the story is incomplete without a discussion of what happens after graduation, after the honors degrees are bestowed and men and women go out to seek employment in the real world. In the workplace the gender gap remains -- but favors men, not women. Deb Wassel correctly points out the unfortunate reality about the low number of female executives ("Women at Work," July 17). Regardless of educational background, the obstacles that women face in the realm of employment -- particularly in male-dominated fields such as business and law -- are in many ways, far more formidable than those faced by men.
The contradiction here is striking. So what explains the difference? Why do men dominate the workplace but lag behind in college?
"That's just how the world is. Women always have to do more to be equal," a friend of mine said. "Men just feel entitled." Frankly, it's hard to blame them. One study cited found that a college degree increases women's earnings far more than it does men's. Motivating men to work hard in school is difficult if it is in fact true that they are likely to get a good job with or without graduating cum laude. If the goal really is for men and women to get the same grades, one blogger, "Warhammer," has a quite original solution: "Perhaps if they castrate the men before they go to university then we would see a huge difference in grades." Yikes.
Sordid medical procedures aside, one professor at the University of Southern California's business school, Kathleen Reardon, identifies disturbing patterns among her female students. "They use disclaimers such as 'I hope this isn't too abrasive' or 'This may not be a good idea' far more than men," she writes. Reardon also describes women's fear of appearing too cold, calculating and distant in their interactions -- something that she calls "the Hillary problem." Another friend describes a similar situation in her government class here at Dartmouth: "It's a really high-powered class, with a very professional male lecturer -- and the discussion is completely dominated by the five guys in the class."
When you consider this impossible bind between lacking conviction and being a frigid ice queen, the fact that women hold fewer leadership positions in the workplace is not surprising at all. But again, how can we blame the women for this? When the ways that women are socialized to speak and act are not accepted as "strong enough" by society, men are likely to assume leadership almost by default. Perhaps that is the larger point about gender disparities in college and beyond. Women may be better at making the grade, but the practices and attitudes reflected are more powerful in shaping the gender landscape in society.
Despite Warhammer's, um, creative suggestion about how to bridge the gap, it's possible that the academic disparity in college -- or, "boy crisis," as some call it -- is being made into a bigger deal than it actually is. This is not to say that gender equality should be put on the back burner, or that women's academic success is something that we should not celebrate. Quite the contrary. It is important, however, to put the focus where it should be, instead of emphasizing a "boy crisis" that is laughable when considering the fact that for many women, hard work and good grades just aren't enough to be on a level playing field with men.
I like to think that Dartmouth is an exception to the rule, supporting women in organizations such as Women in Business or Women in Leadership while encouraging them to enter all realms of employment. But what is worrisome to me is my friend's anecdote about her government class -- a case in which the figures on paper might be satisfactory, but what actually goes on in the classroom is quite different. Is this a widespread phenomenon? I'm not sure. Will women at Dartmouth continue to speak strongly for themselves after they leave campus? I hope so. Success in school is only the tip of the iceberg. Instead of griping about the disparity in grades between women and men, it's about time we asked ourselves why women feel that they have to not only match, but outrank men in the academic world, simply in order to have a chance at success.
