Gender Barriers in Baylor

In our society, in 2014, we think of our society as being evolved, and everyone is an equal. Why then, are there still some gender barriers in different fields of work? We, from personal experiences, have seen these gender barriers first hand while studying here at Baylor. Our different majors include Computer Science, Speech Pathology, and Business. Within these different majors we are able to see what kind of gender barriers are actually present in Baylor. The following paragraphs offer our three different experiences within our fields of study.

When you hear computer scientists, usually you do not think of it as a “women’s” career. Studying computer science as a girl, I can see all of the gender barriers in this specific major. This is a mainly male dominated major, and that is what people stereotypically think of it as. According to the Central Michigan Life website, “more than often girls do not feel confident enough to continue their pursuit with science and math because society deems it a boy’s field of work.” This is present even in Baylor. In my computer science class this first semester there are only about five or six girls out of close to thirty students total. While growing up girls are often told that they could not succeed in such an intense field of study. They are often discouraged from pursuing a degree in any STEM career. The Central Michigan Life website explains how our society today shows women as being successful in careers such as a doctor, or lawyer, or the stereotypical teacher, but they are never depicted as computer or biochemical engineers. Usually when a person thinks about what an engineer would look like they would think of a white male who is seen as a nerd for going into that profession. The website also states that the reason so many girls decide against pursuing a career in the STEM field, is that they are encouraged not to at such a young age, and they continue to think they do not fit in the STEM field of work as they get older. This is a problem. Women should be able to study whatever field of work they find an interest in, without feeling like they are breaking the norm in society. Women who do go into this field of work are leading the way for more and more girls. They are role models for the young girls who do not think they have what it takes to make it in this major. They are showing authentic leadership traits when they pursue a STEM career.

Another example that demonstrates gender barriers within majors at Baylor would inclue the field of Speech Pahtolgy. The majority of sudents who choose to major and pursue this field as a career are women.

According to ASHA (American Speech and Hearing Association), the number of male members that are speech and language pathologists is only 3.8 percent. This is an increadibly low number for a field that works with all ages of people ranging from infant to elderly, and can be practiced in various places such as school, hospitals, or private practices. I have personally see this separation here at Baylor within my class with the number of male students only being two out of a class of 50. According to an article on asha.org, at recent study   found that this “gender ratio” was one of the main drawbacks to male students entering the field, stating that 75 percent of males would much rather, “work in a field with an equal gender ratio”. One of the reasons that more and more women are gravitating towards this field however is because of the flexiblity that it offers and the ability to earn a good salary, it also involves teaching and taking care of others’ needs, which appeals to many female personalities. While it is good that women have opportunity to this major, it is not fair for men to be pushed away from this field due to the gender contrast. Men should be able to pursue this major if they so choose without feeling in the minority. The leadership theory that applies to those who pursue this field, would be a more transformational type style – whether it be a male student or a female student.

However, gender is not an issue in all fields of study at Baylor University. For example, as a woman pursing a degree in business, there are not prevalent gender barriers like you might find in computer sciences or speech pathology. While other majors may have predominantly more men or women in field-specific courses, most business courses have somewhat of a balance. In business, it is not seen as “breaking the social norm,” for a man or

a woman to be interested in a specific topic. For example, according to the Catalyst Knowledge Center, 51.5% of management and professional positions were held by women. Clearly, business provides an open environment with opportunities for anyone who is willing to pursue it. In fact, according to Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, a writer for Harvard Business Review, many professionals in the business world would argue that any form of favoritism of one gender, such as a women getting a promotion to attempt to balance the leadership more equally, would actually present an unfair opportunity and offset the effect it was attempting to make. In the business world, one gender is not preferred over another, it is merely which individual is willing to take charge and put forth the effort to succeed. Thus, you will often find different styles of leadership being used depending on who steps up to the plate and earns their leadership position because no one leader is the same as the other.

From our experiences, gender barriers are still an issue in specific fields of study today. With the different gender barriers that are present men and women may be kept from leading others to follow their path of breaking the norm of society. If more and more people started going away from the norm we could have influential leaders in the fields of work that they may not have usually been in. If leadership was more promoted we would have less of this problem, and we would have more equality in our society.

By: Stacie McLaury, Melissa Attaway, and Molly Drury