Spring Break
DSG prez's response prompts questions
Issue date: 10/16/07 Section: Editorial
Last update: 10/16/07 at 7:15 AM EST
Last update: 10/16/07 at 7:15 AM EST
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Paul Slattery's comments about the hurdles women might face in his position as Duke Student Government president raise some important questions about campus leadership opportunities for both sexes without necessarily providing an accurate assessment of the nature of the job.
"A lot of the relationships that I have with administrators developed into friendships that I think would be difficult to develop with a different gender dynamic," Slattery told The Chronicle. "The answer to that is that there needs to be an effort to recruit more female administrators."
The logic of this answer is unclear. Slattery explained that the ability to "relate personally and casually" with administrators when lobbying for policy changes is key to getting insider information.
We would expect a woman in the same position would be able to interact as personally and as casually with male administrators if she so chose.
Slattery's comments certainly call us to re-examine possible gender barriers on the job, but perhaps it reveals more about the specific nature of his own relationship with administrators than about gender constraints inherent to the position as it stands.
Concern about the unique challenges a woman might face as DSG head-especially in relation to a largely male administration-is a reasonable outgrowth of the more obvious concern about the lack of female DSG presidents in eight years and the grand total of seven female presidents since the organization's inception 40 years ago.
But this underwhelming female representation in student government is not unique to Duke. A quick sampling reveals that currently the student governments at Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Brown, Dartmouth and Penn are headed by men. Those at Yale and Columbia are headed by women.
Donna Lisker, codirector of the Baldwin Scholars Program, suggested that the relatively low number of female administrators might be playing a role in discouraging women at Duke from running for top public positions.
"A lot of the relationships that I have with administrators developed into friendships that I think would be difficult to develop with a different gender dynamic," Slattery told The Chronicle. "The answer to that is that there needs to be an effort to recruit more female administrators."
The logic of this answer is unclear. Slattery explained that the ability to "relate personally and casually" with administrators when lobbying for policy changes is key to getting insider information.
We would expect a woman in the same position would be able to interact as personally and as casually with male administrators if she so chose.
Slattery's comments certainly call us to re-examine possible gender barriers on the job, but perhaps it reveals more about the specific nature of his own relationship with administrators than about gender constraints inherent to the position as it stands.
Concern about the unique challenges a woman might face as DSG head-especially in relation to a largely male administration-is a reasonable outgrowth of the more obvious concern about the lack of female DSG presidents in eight years and the grand total of seven female presidents since the organization's inception 40 years ago.
But this underwhelming female representation in student government is not unique to Duke. A quick sampling reveals that currently the student governments at Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Brown, Dartmouth and Penn are headed by men. Those at Yale and Columbia are headed by women.
Donna Lisker, codirector of the Baldwin Scholars Program, suggested that the relatively low number of female administrators might be playing a role in discouraging women at Duke from running for top public positions.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Jason
posted 10/16/07 @ 10:05 AM EST
I appreciate this column as it speaks to a desire of a more inclusive University. But as I read it, I kept thinking that it did not necessarily comprot with my experience of Duke. (Continued…)
anon
posted 10/16/07 @ 2:12 PM EST
I almost like this article, especially the caution about a rush to affirmative action as a "solution" to the "problem." And an excellent point that it is the height of offensiveness that feminists claim other females are only comfortable with female role models. (Continued…)
Truth
posted 10/17/07 @ 1:09 AM EST
Paul Slattery HATES women.
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