Mind the Gap: In campus leadership, gender matters

Although both men and women hold campus leadership positions, men dominate the ranks of policy-making organizations while women hold most leadership positions in personal-oriented groups.

When Mel Baars was young, she was a tomboy. But as she grew up, she cultivated friendships with women. Now, more than a decade later, Baars is back in the boys’ game. Right now the senior is the only female of the eight semi-finalists remaining in the race for Undergraduate Young Trustee.

Nearly three years after President Nan Keohane launched the Women’s Initiative to examine the gender climate at Duke, the University’s student leadership remains divided by sex. The current executive committee of Duke Student Government consists solely of men, and for the past five years the presidents of both DSG and the Duke University Union—two of the most visible leadership roles on campus—have been male as well. On the other hand, since 1997, 75 percent of the Community Service Center’s student directors have been women. There is not a vast difference in campus participation levels by gender—as evidenced by the near balance on the Inter-Community Council, which is comprised of 21 leaders from campus political and cultural organizations. There is a clear distinction, however, in the activities which men and women pursue.

Echoing real-world patterns, University women are significantly more involved in organizations that do hands-on or local work, while most “hard” political, policy-making organizations’ bodies are predominantly male.

The gender gap in the University’s student leadership parallels a nationwide trend on college campuses. According to a study done by George Washington University’s Graduate School of Education, only 16 percent of college and university student body presidents are women, even though women comprise more than 52 percent of the student body. The same study also revealed that when universities allocate resources and seek student input, they primarily consider the recommendations from official organizations, such as student governments—the same groups generally dominated by men.

Among the top colleges and universities as ranked by the U.S. News and World Report, only eight out of the top 26 have a woman as the head of their student governing body, contrasting with the larger female representation at the high school level, where 27 percent of girls and 19 percent of boys participate in student government, according to Business Week magazine.

There are many theories as to why this trend exists. “We socialize [women] to be empathetic and service-oriented, so it’s no surprise they would be drawn to the CSC, which focuses a good deal of its efforts on children and families in need,” said Donna Lisker, director of the Women’s Center.

Sophomore Holly Lance, an active member of community service group Circle K, health education group PARTY and the Greek Jewish Council agreed on culture’s influence: “Even in this day and age, men are generally taught to be the more aggressive ones, and sometimes aggressive women are looked down upon.”

“DSG is a microcosm of our higher level governments, which not coincidentally are also male dominated,” Lisker said. “When there are few role models, it’s much more difficult for individuals to see themselves in a non-traditional role.”

Baars, whose leadership has been largely focused on community service, noted that she shies away from bureaucratic settings. “I didn’t ever want to deal with the disappointment of putting so much time and effort running for a position that I’m unlikely to win,” she said, referring to student government races. “It’s not about qualifications; it’s about who can get the most votes.”

Community service organizations are often considered less cut-throat and more supportive, thus drawing a larger portion of women. “When you fail, it’s important to be in a supportive environment,” said Baars, co-director of CSC.

Sex and Style

The nurturing atmosphere Baars describes at CSC reflects research on gender and leadership that shows men are generally more concerned with systems and rules while women focus more on relationships and atmosphere in the workplace. “While there’s enormous individual variability, women tend to focus more on inclusiveness and process while men focus on problem-solving and efficiency,” Lisker said.

Goodwin personally observed gender variance in leadership styles in DSG. While a committee member, he worked for both male and female vice presidents. “Working under a male vice president, I saw more tasks being delegated out to every senator rather than a largely internal operating system,” he said. “Under the female vice president, I noticed the passion and ownership that seemed to come with each project.”

Students noticed the differences of the public profiles and structures of campus organizations. The Community Service Center, for example, considers its leadership structure to be horizontal, whereas DSG has a clear hierarchy. The contrasting organizational patterns in turn provide a variety of working climates.

“I think there are different qualities that men and women possess and different job descriptions for each organization—so it’s not surprising that men will feel more comfortable in one organization and women in another,” said sophomore Joel Kliksberg, DSG vice president of community interaction.

None of the major campus organizations, however, explicitly build their structures to cater to a particular gender. “It is reasonable to assume that in five to 10 years Duke may have the exact opposite arrangement of student leaders by gender,” said DSG President Pasha Majdi, a senior.

But the internal structures that organizations adopt may prevent that switch from taking place, as styles of individual groups affect where men and women choose to be active on campus. While Lisker says there is not a superior leadership style among the genders, “they are different, and if an organization comes to be dominated by the ‘male’ style or the ‘female’ style, it may be hard for the other sex to feel comfortable in it.”

What Now?

As the Women’s Initiative completed its studies last year, the campus turned its attention to the climate for women. As part of the University’s plan of action, it created the Baldwin Scholars Program, which is designed to foster undergraduate female leadership. “The general sentiment from a lot of women is that they leave Duke with less confidence than they came in with,” said Baars, a mentor in the program.

One of the initiative’s goals is to create more examples of female leadership on campus, providing women with confidence to become leaders—even if it means breaking away from traditional gender roles. Discussions about the roles women play on Duke’s campus are ongoing.

Many of the climate changes, however, will have to be undertaken within individual organizations. “I don’t think the University should be directing where students are involved,” said senior Kevin Parker, president of the Union. “Students will naturally go to where their passion is, and that will serve the community best.”