Reports of the
      ACM Committee on Women's Concerns
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      September 11, 1992
      To: Members of the ACM Committee on Women's Concerns
      From: Terri Fishel, Macalester College
      Re: Summary of Survey of Senior Women
      Enclosed is a copy of the summary statement for the survey we did last year with Senior women. As per our meeting last Spring I agreed to get a copy to everyone before our Fall meeting so we could discuss and revise at the meeting in Carleton. I am sending one copy to members that met last Spring to discuss the qualitative aspects of the survey. If you are no longer the committee representative for your institution, please pass along to the current member.

      Please consider this a rough draft for further revision before it goes to the College Deans.

      SUMMARY OF SURVEY OF SENIOR WOMEN ON ACM CAMPUSES

      Spring 1992

      The ACM Committee on Women's Concerns adopted as it's 1991-92 focus an "examination of the experience of women students on our campuses." This examination included looking at how women's aspirations change over their four college years and identification of the important college experiences that affect these aspirations. With this as the focus topic, group interviews of senior women were conducted on each of the ACM campuses. The interviewees were selected from a random list generated by each registrar of a representative sample of women from various majors and an attempt to include ethnic groups. Each campus conducted interviews with groups that ranged from as small as three to as large as thirteen. In the Spring of 1992 the ACM Committee met and shared the results of these interviews. We felt the findings provided information that identified common experiences on all campuses as well as some unique findings on individual campuses. The following summary provides an overview of the classroom experience, the campus climate, and career aspirations as expressed by the senior women interviewed. Some representative samples from comments made by the seniors have been included. [Note: Many of the institutions requested anonymity and therefore the quotations are not directly attributed to any single institution.] A complete list of the questions that were presented to the groups is included at the end of the summary.

      Classroom Experiences

      On almost every campus, each discussion began with the women feeling that the climate in the classroom was positive and supportive, but as discussion developed the overall sense of well-being was challenged by individual instances of exceptions to this "supportive" climate. Most of the issues were related to how women were treated in class discussions. The similarity among the campuses was that women felt that male and older professors were less likely to have discussions in class. Secondly, the most important similarity was that there was more silencing by male students than male professors. The communication styles of male peers was a more combative or competitive attitude toward women's contributions in class discussion.

      While women might offer statements such as "I believe it might be this way" a male student was more likely to state affirmatively "this is the way it is." It is mentioned several times in various ways, but perhaps best stated as "male students speak with more conviction while the female students articulate their response in more tentative terms." One attitude expressed was that the most successful classes for women were those in which the climate encouraged students to work together in study groups, partnerships, small group discussions, etc. and to not compete. Most of the negative comments revolved around how class discussions led to unpleasant experiences including the negative labeling of women if they were assertive, and men if they were insensitive during discussions dealing with feminist issues. In several summaries, women mentioned the fear of being labeled "feminist" as "feminist" was equated with being a lesbian which was equated with "hating men." In numerous summaries, comments included the situation of outspoken women being labeled as "lesbians" both by male and female peers.

      In addition to being labeled, there was an issue of males being "judgmental." As stated by one woman, 

        "I've found that I'm much better at being the articulate, intelligent person that I am around women, because I don't feel as if they have--there isn't as much judgment going on. Many more things are judged about [you] than how smart you are when you are in a class with men." 
      Another attitude expressed was that if women did express strong opinions, male professors would treat that as an emotional response as opposed to an intellectual response. Other issues such as women being ignored in class or comments not taken seriously because they were offered by women also appeared in the continents. 

      Another similarity occurs in their attitudes toward certain departments on campus that are "female unfriendly." In several summaries, mention was made that women in the sciences were perceived as having less respect from their male peers. Other disciplines also mentioned that were considered more "male oriented" included religion and business. On the other hand, one theater major stated that there was less gender distinction as theater majors "are pushing to fill out lots of parts of themselves rather than containing and trying to limit." 

      In individual commentary there were occasional mentions of sexism in the classroom, or preferential treatment by faculty toward males or females. One student commenting on being a minority stated: 

        "A lot of times in the classroom being black and being well...sometimes being black and being a woman are very much connected...I was taking a class called Slavery in the Old South... In this class, oftentimes because we were relating to my history people would look at me and either expect me to say something, or look at me as if they were going to say, 'Oh, God, now she's going to say something.' It was either wanting me to say something or wanting me to keep my mouth shut so they didn't have to feel uncomfortable... So it's either people being mad at me because I make them uncomfortable or me being mad at people for making me uncomfortable." 
      Overall the ability to express themselves in classes was limited by reactions by their peers as well as by the professors. However, the singular consistency throughout the summaries was the negative attitudes of male peers toward female contributions in the classroom environment.

      Life Outside the Classroom

      In most discussion groups, this topic elicited the most response. It was clear that the women felt there was a double standard between their academic life and social life. As stated in one summary, 
        "There arose a virtual outpouring of anecdotes and attitudes all illustrating scenarios that led one to conclude that there is considerable tension, resentment, ambivalence, apprehension, and at the very least awkwardness in the relationships between men and women on our campus, and that no one really knows what to do about it... The students felt that both men and women were to blame for this situation, and there, was little hope of a resolution in the near future." 
      One concern that was frequently vocalized was the physical safety of women. Date rape and how various colleges handled counseling and other support services was mentioned in several interview summaries. The major problem in regards to date rape was that it was a much more wide-spread problem on campuses, but that too many women refused to come forward for fear of harassment. "Rape happens more than people think. It takes a strong personality to prosecute over rape, to put your life in the public eye takes a lot out of you." 

      The terms "meat market" to describe how fraternities and men in public settings such as cafeterias viewed women appeared in several summaries. Men were viewed as much more likely to evaluate women based on negative points and to be vocal in broadcasting their opinions in settings such as the cafeteria. Female students felt that it would be "desirable to better prepare students about how to have healthy social lives without all the self-abuse that women often go through to be acceptable for male students." Another double standard was expressed in several interviews regarding sexual attitudes. "This whole idea, that if a man sleeps around he's a stud, if a woman sleeps around she's a slut, this whole idea is so infuriating." 

      Another area that was mentioned was the disparity in women's and men's sports. Mention was made not only of the lack of funding for women's sports, but also the media attention. One student commented on the fact that in the student newspaper "still refer to men's basketball as 'basketball' and to women's basketball as 'women's basketball'. She noted, however, that this is changing now that only the women's teams are winning." A couple of summaries included mention of women being made to feel uncomfortable in the weight rooms. 

      One question concerned the relationship of female students with mentors. On one campus, women were most concerned that if they had a male mentor, that the perception was they were sleeping with him. This also appeared to be the reverse situation in at least one summary, "They felt few males had female mentors because everyone would suspect them of sleeping with the professor." In several summaries, mention was made of a lack of role models or available female mentors for women in the sciences. In another institution, a student shared her experience as far as changing from a male to a female mentor. She had developed a working relationship with a male faculty member and she felt that she was his protege, and he was her mentor for 2 1/2 years. She shared the following experience with struck a chord with the group: 

        "I really see him teaching me things, him taking a special effort to teach me things about the field and I thought this was a great...learning relationship because he took a special effort to point out 'why don't you read this article, why don't you think about this topic, why don't you do this kind of a project to broaden your learning in this field.' And I thought this was great.... Then I took a 'Gender and Communication' class. I just was introduced to a lot of issues that I had never been exposed to growing up in a third world country... this was really fascinating...this thinking about being a women stuff is very fascinating... I've never been exposed to it before. It was just a great semester, it was just exciting...all these thoughts and all these new experiences and suddenly a lot of these things about the United States and especially here... made sense now. Ah, this is what people mean when they talk about women's issues such 'n such, such 'n such. And I started...to understand some of the feelings inside that I hadn't had the language for. And I started having a lot of trouble with this mentor of mine because I suddenly felt stifled that I started to look at the kind of stuff that he was introducing me to and felt like this is all very one-sided, not only that but its all a very male way of thinking and ever since then I have had a lot of trouble with this sort of protege relationship and have leaned a lot more now toward a woman in the department that I feel is much broader thinking and that just exposed like a whole range of things rather than a narrow discipline that this former mentor of mine was into." 
      Another area that was discussed was what it was like for them as women on campus: 
        "I feel particularly close...if not close...safe, around my female friends even if I'm not close to them at least I can express my opinion on anything if they don't agree with me, at least they am listening to me and respect that I have an opinion and it may not be what they agree with, but at least it is an opinion that is equal to their opinion." 
      For the most part the discussion of life outside the classroom revolved around the social attitudes of male and female relationships. Many women felt that they had insights to offer first year students, but no opportunity to share their "knowledge" and "experience."

      Life Plans and Aspirations

      Several summaries mentioned that individuals had changed their view of success to be one in which they had less emphasis on money and concentrated more on how to achieve happiness and personal fulfillment. One commented that instead of seeking to change the world, she merely wanted to "survive." 

      As mentioned in one summary, the women became more confident and positive when discussing their futures and how they had changed during their four years of college. Many commented on the growth they experienced. 

        "I think when I came here I wanted to fill a resume, but since I've been here I've made a lot of commitments to a lot of things that can stay with me for a long time. I think it has a lot to do with experiences and people, and specific classes. It is so important that people have the opportunity to sham ideas, form commitments and form ideas.... I've changed a lot. I think I might have ended up not caring, and doing whatever comes next on the checklist that my parents made up twenty years ago, but now I take into account whatever that check list is and am starting to define that for myself." 

        "When I first got here, well...where I came from was very different. This was a completely new environment because [I'd] grown up on welfare my whole life... So when I got here, I was going, 'Yeah, I'm going to get out of it (poverty]... I'm going to become a doctor'... I guess I found that my community back home was real and that [it] was me... I've been looking into programs.. Third World countries... community clinics... community medical services, and there's no money in it; there's no anything... I think my definition of success was just finding out more of who I am and just knowing [that success is] not that money thing. It's being with your own people and helping them." 

        "It's being able to set a goal that you don't even think that you might be able to achieve...just to make yourself work a little bit harder to get what you want. Being a successful college graduate is, I think, being able to look at the world outside of your major... I think that it's important that you expand your horizons and look at areas outside of your primary focus in college was. My dad, I think, is the picture of success because [although] he's an electrical engineer...he's interested in everything. He knows things about anything you want to talk to him about. He can talk to you for half an hour on any subject, and I think because of that's he's very successful." 

        Another commented that many women by "coming here...what they needed to become themselves. Of course college is a 'becoming time' but each college has it's own personality... going [institution] hasn't changed my career plans, not what I want to do, but how I'm going to do them because I just grew into myself and like I knew what I wanted to do but before I came [institution] I didn't have the means to say I'm going to do it in a way that is me, not my dad or my mom or someone else and that I will be happy with and I think that is what [institution] gave...whatever I needed to find what was them and how to be them." 

        "Another student spoke of moving from 'rugged individualist' to more attentiveness to relationships, and this year moving toward a sense of the need for community. She did not see [institution] as contributing to this growth, however. Other students disagreed. They cited intramural sports, band, and the approach of particular professors who fostered collaboration rather than competition as influences that fostered community." 

      Variations in Summaries

      Not all campuses were able to obtain representative view points from ethnic groups on campus. Some findings concluded that women of color identified more by their ethnic group than their female identity. In addition, the few ethnic students interviewed felt that they had a lack of role models and had a greater need for a support system.

      Another variation was that some women commented on being ignored in the classroom, but this didn't appear in all the campus summaries.

      Need for Further Study

      It was generally agreed that there is a need for further study. The group interviews were merely a small sample of the senior women. The fact that there were so many similarities on the various campuses led the group to determine that there should be more systematic study of the climate on campus and to delve further into a more scientific study of the senior women. Some possibilities include more specific questions to a larger group of women. Based on the preliminary summaries, questions are being developed to correct mom information about the generalizations. There were many positive comments made for all the campuses. Support networks and individual successes on each campus were commonplace. In addition, one of the positive outcomes was the view that this survey gave women a voice on campus. In several reports, mention was made that the women were grateful and "flattered" to have had their opinions solicited. They enjoyed the opportunity to express themselves and wished that they had more opportunities to do so. A further outgrowth of this study would perhaps include developing opportunities on campuses for women to meet and share their experiences. Another suggestion was made to take a group of first year students and trace their experiences throughout their four years. Finally, however, the main objective was to survey the overall climate. In almost all cases, it was clear that although each interview started with fairly positive attitudes regarding women on campus, as individuals shared their experiences, a more common theme developed such as the following summary: 
        "At the end, one woman commented, 'There's lots of sexism here! It's a big one! LOTS from the students, from female students too, that's harder...' and the group, who had begun by saying everything was equal, emphatically agreed with her. 'You just adjust things and learn how to cope...'" 

      Questions for Interviewees

      1. WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE A WOMAN IN CLASSES HERE? 
        • What frustrations have you experienced? 
        • What successes have you experienced? 
        • Have you ever felt isolated in a class? 
        • Have you ever felt silenced in a class? 
        • Have you noticed any differences between the way women and men are treated in class? 
      2. WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE A WOMAN OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM HERE? 
        • What successes have you experienced? 
        • What frustrations have you experienced? 
        • Do you have a mentor? Who is she or he? Describe your relationship with your mentor. How important is this relationship to your success in college? 
        • Do you feel you are part of a community here? 
        • What influence has this community had on your success? 
      3. WHAT ARE YOUR LIFE PLANS AND HOW HAVE THEY CHANGED SINCE YOU'VE COME HERE? 
        • What do you hope to accomplish in your life? 
        • How is this different now than when you came to (individual institution)? 
        • How do you define success? Has this definition changed during college? How? 

          • If your life plans have changed, what role has (this institution) played in the process? How? 
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