Women in Charge: Lam, Cox, Flores

For the first time since 2000, three of the major political organizations on campus—the Undergraduate Council, the Harvard College Democrats, and the Student Advisory Committee to the Institute of Politics—are headed up by female leaders.

Andrea R. Flores ’10 serves as president of the UC, Eva Z. Lam ’10 is president of the Dems, and Mary K.B. Cox ’10 is president of the SAC.

All three women came together last Thursday to discuss leadership as part of the Women’s Center’s “Women’s Week 2009: Engendering Change.” But while they all are at the helm of three of Harvard’s largest political organizations, their experiences and perceptions of bias have been shaped by the cultures of their respective clubs.

The Dems and the IOP both have a 1:1 ratio of males to female members, versus 2:1 on the UC.

Of the three, Flores is the most vocal about the double standards she has faced as a woman on the council. Cox, who is the third consecutive woman to inherit the organization’s presidency, said she still faces the vestiges of a male-dominated IOP. By contrast, Lam, whose organization is one of the most progressive on campus, said she has experienced relatively little discrimination as an ambitious woman.

Despite this variation, all three have spoken to the importance of getting more women involved in politics and leadership on campus. But thus far, their experiences as leaders seem to be more representative of present attitudes toward woman leaders than emblematic of a shift in perspective brought about by their election.



ANDREA R. FLORES

Flores is the first female UC president in six years—putting her at the helm of the organization that has been slowest among the three political clubs to make strides towards gender equity.

When Flores joined the UC her freshman year, she was one of only two freshman women on the Council. She said she has faced sexism throughout her time on the Council and does not see Harvard’s student governing body as any more progressive than that of other institutions.

“I very much had to prove myself in a way male freshman reps did not,” she said.

In the second semester of her sophomore year, she served as Finance Committee chair and held that position for the first semester of her junior year.

Yet when it came time for well-positioned juniors to consider running for president, Flores said, she was asked by two potential candidates to serve as their vice-president.

She said she did not believe a man with her qualifications would have been presumed to be merely a vice-presidential candidate.

Flores said she believed she had to prove herself each year in a way that men on the Council did not have to.

Flores also said she is held to a “higher standard” when she is out on a Friday and Saturday night than the male members of the council.

But despite years-long female underrepresentation on the Council that still exists today, three of the four highest leadership posts are held by women—who may now be in the position to serve as role models for a new batch of woman leaders.



MARY K.B. COX

Cox said she initially felt that the IOP was “very much an old boys’ club,” and despite a recent rise in female participation at the IOP, she felt that her gender ultimately served as both an asset and a liability in her bid for SAC President.

Cox entered the IOP as a freshman and was initially put off by the lack of diversity in its forums.

“There was basically a feeling when you came to an IOP event that there were a bunch of men,” she said. “They were all very similar and knew everything about politics.”

Eventually drawn back to the IOP by the strength of its fellows program. Cox became Fellows Chair in her sophomore year and began contemplating the presidency.

Despite her motivation, Cox said she lacked a role model for how to run a campaign because the previous female SAC presidents had either been appointed or had run uncontested.

Cox eventually competed against Tejas A. Sathian ’10 for the presidency.

“People say things—‘she’s really intense, she’s really hardcore,’” Cox recalled. “Tejas was equally intense and hardcore, and I don’t know why it took a different tone when it came to me.”

Nonetheless, Cox said her gender also helped her to connect to women in the IOP.

While the IOP now boasts 50 percent female participation in its advisory council, Cox’s experience seems to underlie a continuing double-standard for the way voters regard ambitious female candidates.



EVA Z. LAM

Lam said she did not see her sex as a major factor in her candidacy for the Dems’ top spot, nor has she seen overt sexism as a member of the club.

“I didn’t wake up in the morning and say I, Eva Lam, am going to run as the female president of the Harvard Democrats,” she said. “I had the good fortune of not having to think about gender too much when I was running.”

Lam represents two groups traditionally underrepresented in Harvard politics: she is a woman and she is a lesbian.

While she said she does not believe her political ambitions at Harvard were greatly affected by her gender, this does her not affect her belief that it was important to get more qualified women to run for elected positions.

She said that if there was a hypothetical race between a man and a woman of equal qualification “there is more value to having a woman,” adding that certainly does not translate into unyielding support for female candidates. “I didn’t vote for Sarah Palin,” she said.

Nor did she support Hillary Clinton in the primary race against Barack Obama.

Men alone are not the problem, she said.

“There are women who are uncomfortable with other women in leadership roles,” Lam said. “Women have been socialized into a lot of the same views that men have been socialized into.”

Lam said that she herself has been guilty of bias against women.

“I judge debate occasionally, and I almost find myself holding women to higher standards,” but she said she tries to take that into consideration before giving out scores.

—Staff writer Eric P. Newcomer can be reached at newcomer@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Evan T.R. Rosenman can be reached erosenm@fas.harvard.edu.