Women and Self Esteem

1
Women and Self Esteem

• Women who have leadership experiences in college
  develop greater self esteem, therefore, if women
  are to emerge from college feeling strong,
  dependent, self assured and well prepared they
  must be given leadership experiences as students.
• Astin and Kent, 1983

2
Senior Survey

• Women have higher high school grades coming into
  CSB/SJU
• Women perform better in high school
• Women rate themselves lower in achievement
• Women rate themselves lower on almost every
  ability category. (Men rated themselves above
  average or higher.)

3
Important legacies for a Campus for Women

• Role models
• Women are seen as decision makers, working
  mothers, managers and experts. Role models are a
  young womans possibilities.
• Belief in Students Capacity to succeed
• Women can succeed in serious pursuits whether
  academic or professional.
• Tangible and environmental support that
  facilitates student success
• Create environments that help students overcome
  limited skills, low expectations for high
  achievement, and a tendency to blame themselves
  for failure.

4
Institutional Characteristics Related to Taking
Women Seriously

• Essential
• Visionary leadership committed to the education
  of women
• Critical mass of women in all constituencies
• Belief in womens capacities and high
  expectations
• Places and spaces for womens leadership in all
  aspects of institutional life
• Celebration of traditions and institutional
  history
• High degree of trust and responsibility
• Active and empowering alumnae association
• Nonessential
• High selectivity in admissions
• Large endowment
• High faculty compensation
• High proportion of faculty Ph.D.s
• Extensive library holdings
• Conformist student behaviors

5
CSBs Commitment to Education for Women

• Identify and express her own voice
• Expect to be listened to and will be heard
• Develop self-confidence and esteem
• Develop a capacity for leadership and become an
  agent for social change
• Know herself within community
• Challenge, process, and practice her values
• Enhance her passion for learning
• Become autonomous and live interdependently
• Understand the wholeness of life
• Express her faith and deepen her spirituality
• Learn through risk-taking
• Understand and expect equity
• Demonstrate compassion and humility towards
  herself and others

6
So What Does This Have To Do With SELT?

• We all need to recognize that socially
  constructed gender roles affect who we are and
  how we interact in the workplace.
• When we see gender we are more able to
  proactively address the issues it may raise (e.g.
  the valid voice).
• Student employment is a perfect lab to test
  some of these discoveries. We all should provide
  a safe place for all of us to explore the
  dynamics of gender.
• The founding premise of Kellogg was based on a
  collaborative leadership model, a model that was
  developed primarily from womens ways of leading.

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Supervisors can be key to this process

• We are caring adults in the lives of young
  people.
• We can model how to work among and between gender
  across the campuses.
• We can recognize the data in regard to the
  struggles some women report regarding the
  perceptions of her achievement.
• We can help women achieve successive or
  incremental success, believe in her ability to
  succeed and promote her belief in her own
  abilities.
• Provide an encouraging work atmosphere, avoid
  the null environment.

8
Applications in Student Jobs

• Is the work environment equalitarian?
• Is the work environment horizontally structured?
• Is the work environment participatory?
• Does the work environment promote concern for the
  individual while still holding each member
  accountable to the staff goals?
• Is the task balanced with relationships?

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• How do we affirm or reinforce gender stereotypes?
• How do we break gender barriers and stereotypes?