Tuesday, January 29, 2008
A nationwide gender gap has emerged on college campuses. Statistics show that women earn better grades and hold more leadership positions while in college.
Two organizations at the University of Kansas are trying to bridge the gap.
A 2005 report in Work & Family Life stated that among 25- to 34-year-olds 24% more women than men have associate’s degrees, 14% more women than men hold bachelor degrees and 21% more women than men have advanced degrees.
The Student Involvement and Leadership Center and Emily Taylor Resource Center are co-sponsoring the Battle of the Sexes: KU Leadership Academy this Saturday at the Student Union from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tyler Blair and Stefani Gerson, graduate students in Higher Education, are the lead facilitators for the event.
Blair said the program will focus on educating the participants on the facts of the gender gap.
“Since 1984, every semester, the all-female GPA has been significantly higher than the all-male GPA,” Blair said.
Blair said that although he didn’t have specific data about the University, he knew that there were more females in charge of KU organizations.
Blair said that societal stereotypes were one reason for the widening gender gap in education and leadership.
“It’s just something that society teaches people that men have to act in a masculine way,” Blair said. “Men don’t tend to get involved in campus because it’s not a masculine type of thing to do.”
Blair said the number of female participants registered for the program compared to male participants registered had only reinforced the gender gap. Eighty-five of the 140 registered participants are women.
Rebecca Ingraham, Shawnee junior, is the vice president for interfraternal relations for Panhellenic Council, the governing body of all sororities at the University. She plans to attend the day-long event.
“As a women’s organization, we feel its really important to be represented there,” Ingraham said. “And I think as someone who is in a leadership position, it’s always good to meet other leaders on campus and to find different ways to be a successful leader in the community.”
Blair said the educational gender gap is clearly not limited to the University of Kansas. Blair cited a 2005 report in Work & Family Life that suggested the educational gap is widening.
The report stated that among 25- to 34-year-olds 24% more women than men have associate’s degrees, 14% more women than men hold bachelor degrees and 21% more women than men have advanced degrees.
Yet strangely, the gender gap reverses after college. Blair said men hold more leadership positions in the real world, even though they don’t necessarily perform better.
Blair said the program will address the real world gender gap, as well.
Jason Oruch, Plano junior, is also registered to attend the leadership academy. As a member of Student Senate, Oruch said he thought it was important to the gender gaps in leadership involvement.
“It’ll be a good opportunity to talk about our experiences with leadership,” Oruch said.
breakbox
Bridging the Gap
Event: Battle of The Sexes: KU Leadership Academy
Date: Saturday, February 2nd, 2008
Time: 11 p.m. to 7 p.m.
What: 150 Kansas students will take part in a daylong workshop to address issues of gender gaps in leadership and education
Deadline to Register: The event is full
Ultimately, Blair said the event aims to make both genders stronger in leadership.
“The whole goal of the day is to build a group of leaders who will altogether challenge both sexes to be as strong leaders as possible,” Blair said.
—Edited by Mandy Earles
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