Some Women See Barriers to UC Jobs

Reacting to the fact that only one of the 14 Undergraduate Council (UC) presidential and vice presidential candidates is a woman, the Radcliffe Union of Students (RUS) hosted a discussion last night on why women are underrepresented and what can be done.

“It was a discussion about women’s political involvement...and what are the obstacles or barriers to women participating in campus politics on the same level as men,” Dara F. Goodman ‘07, an RUS co-president, said.

The issue of the dearth of female representation has been acknowledged during the campaign season, but the UC has not had a formal discussion on it this year.

“The UC needs to acknowledge this [issue] now,” said West Yard UC representative and secretary Andrea R. Flores ’10, who attended the meeting last night. Participants in the discussion concluded that the problem lies with the UC campaign culture, in which women, particularly first-years, are less informed about the tactics of college campaigning than their male counterparts.

“People talked about women having a barrier that consisted of a lack of people talking to them about running, and some of the back door politicking that takes place before anyone declares candidacy,” Goodman said.

Flores suggested that she thinks women are probably being deterred from running for UC representative seats by aggressive campaigning tactics.

“I think a lot of them have not done anything like door to door before,” Flores said. “Here you have to be very aggressive, and this is something that is not appealing to a lot of women.”

Goodman agreed with Flores’ assertion.

“I think a lot of it is personal decision, that oftentimes women are not raised with the same comfort level with being figures as visible as men are,” she said.

Goodman said that women on campus are often involved in ways that are not usually considered political but are nonetheless influential. She pointed to examples such as cultural societies, advocacy organizations, and service groups where both women and minorities are well represented in leadership positions.

The discussion included a number of suggestions for improving female representation, such as providing support and guidance to women who choose to run and hosting workshops for candidates.

This fall, a pilot program advised women on how to campaign, how to create a platform, and other aspects of running for the UC.

“I think it is up to groups like RUS and the UC to make the UC more representative,” said Amadi P. Anene ’08, who is running for UC president and has made women’s representation in politics a platform priority.