7 minute read
A Woman’s World
WHY WOMEN’S COLLEGES ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER
BY | ELLEN HUNTER GANS ’05
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How many of us had an exchange like this one with quasi-baffled relatives, high school teachers or friends: “I’m going to enroll at Saint Ben’s.” “Isn’t that a women’s campus? Why would you want to live with all women?” For many of us, the instinct was to point to the partnership with Saint John’s. “There are men up the road! There are men in our classes! There’s even a bus!” And of course, that partnership is an important part of the Saint Ben’s experience. But what about our identity as a college for women? For those of you who elevated this exchange by emphasizing the critical role of a women’s college, you may well have been met with blank stares. And those blank stares are easily forgiven, especially now, in 2021, when our collective understanding of things like the gender spectrum, identities and roles have evolved since I first had exchanges like the one above 20 years ago.
The number of women’s colleges in the United States has declined significantly in recent decades, down by nearly 85% since 1960. “Many of the holdouts have updated their missions: to serve transgender students, to admit men in certain programs, and/or to partner with nearby men’s or coeducational institutions,” reports Kathryn Enke ’05, chief of staff at Saint Ben’s. Dr. Enke has contributed substantial research on the women’s college experience, including a recent study in partnership with the Women’s College Coalition for her article “Access and Opportunity at American Women's Colleges: Contemporary Findings,” printed in the third volume of “Collectif,” Dec. 2020. This sharp drop-off could be chalked up to a larger cultural shift. We had the women’s movement, right? Didn’t you hear that women can have it all now? No special treatment, thankyouverymuch. It’s a level playing field. Except that it’s not. The women’s movement gave people who identify as women the pressure to have it all without the corresponding shift in infrastructure and support. Today, women-centric colleges aren’t obsolete. They’re more important than ever.
TAKING UP SPACE
At a women’s college, women are not only permitted to take up space, but they are expected to do so. This is meant in the literal sense, as they are expected to be present, but it’s also meant in the broader sense. In a world where men (especially cisgender, heterosexual, able-bodied white men) are the default, a women’s college, by design, defaults to women. And by starting with that category, there’s more space for all women, including those who aren’t cisgender, heterosexual, able-bodied and white. Dr. Enke’s research indicates that “women’s colleges enroll a statistically higher percentage of undergraduate women of color than liberal arts colleges” [in general]. And she concludes that “women’s colleges are enrolling students similar in demographic profile to public universities (enrolling those who have been historically less well served by higher education) and achieving completion rates like liberal arts colleges (statistically higher than public universities).” That doesn’t mean any women’s college, including Saint Ben’s, has cultivated that space optimally. Yet the starting point – women are the priority here – delivers an advantage that strictly coeducational institutions simply can’t match. No clubs or speaker series or inspirational posters can accomplish what is built into the DNA of a women’s college. At a women’s college, the message is clear: You are not a second-class citizen. Take up all the space you need. No need to shrink or apologize.
EXPECTING MORE
Does a women’s college leave students unprepared for this men-as-default world? Quite the opposite. For starters, Saint Ben’s doesn’t operate in a gendered vacuum. It’s very much part of the larger society, with a global perspective and an experience designed to illuminate, not shield. And while this isn’t a vacuum, it is somewhat of a microcosm of a matriarchal society, and the effect is pretty incredible. Have you seen what happens when women leaders aren’t the exception, but rather the rule? Have you seen what happens when women don’t need to apologize or fear gender discriminatory backlash for speaking up and speaking out? Saint Ben’s has an interim president who is a woman, a cabinet that is predominantly women, a board of trustees that is predominantly women, and a staff that is predominantly women. Here, we don’t simply talk about elevating women. It’s visible and felt, infused into the entire experience. That’s by design, and it’s remarkable in a higher education landscape that is still largely dominated by white men – particularly in certain disciplines. Much research has been done confirming that men are taught to expect more and achieve more professionally, and they often tend to back that up with essential self-promotion. As reported by the Harvard Business School, “When women communicate with potential employers … they systematically give less favorable assessments of their own past performance and potential future ability than equally performing men.” In other words, women sell themselves short. How do you combat a systemic discrepancy – one of many that make the world smaller and more difficult for women?
One place to start is by creating a space where women experience leadership and success firsthand. Where they assume that their voice is important. That their experience and perspective is valued and valid. That their contributions are worthy. That they are worthy. When they enter the world, even an imbalanced one, emboldened with a lived, proven conviction of fundamental worth, they expect more. They become advocates for themselves and for others.
That’s how you begin to dismantle systems of oppression and systemic inequities. Not by giving lip service to a movement, but by emboldening the movers. Dr. Enke notes that there are two ways of thinking about gender. “One is the way I see myself – my identity. The other type is the way others gender me. No matter how I identify, others gender me every day, based on their assumptions given the way I look. How do people whom society genders as women navigate the power dynamics and stereotypes that come with that gendering?” That’s a question that a women’s college is uniquely positioned to confront.
A UNIQUE PARTNERSHIP
Some people might be feeling a little on guard at the prospect of an agenda that unapologetically supports women. But let’s be clear: Pro-women does not equate to anti-men. It’s about ensuring that all people have the opportunity to contribute fully to our families, our communities, our workplaces and our world. The partnership between Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s is not an accident. It has evolved thoughtfully. There’s a reason the two have aligned in so many areas, and there’s also a reason they haven’t fully coalesced into one institution. In this case, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Saint Ben’s womencentric campus experience gives voice and opportunities to women. It gives the men of Saint John’s a model of what women-centric spaces can be as they see women in leadership roles in administration, on the Saint Ben’s Senate and beyond. And co-educational classrooms offer a platform where the separate campus experiences converge in discussion, challenge, confrontation and growth. And just as Saint Ben’s doesn’t operate in a vacuum, neither does Saint John’s. The recently published statement endorsed by the CSB Board of Trustees and Sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict states, in part, that: “We expect CSB and SJU to amplify women’s stories and to educate men about their role in amplifying the voices and perspectives of women.” The onus of progress doesn’t fall solely on women’s shoulders, nor are women the only ones who benefit from that progress. This isn’t a zero sum game where someone loses in order for someone else to advance. Indeed, it’s worth noting that a true antisexist (not just non-discriminatory) agenda includes challenging the narrow framework of hegemonic masculinity that hurts both men and women.
“This isn’t about separating women, or excluding men,” says Dr. Enke. In fact, she underscores that men shouldn’t be excluded from this dialogue. From her perspective, when confronting any sort of “ism” where there are marginalized groups and groups that traditionally hold power, the marginalized groups deserve a safe space where their needs are at the center, and the power-holding groups must be willing to listen to and act toward those needs.
A LEGACY OF PROGRESS
The Board-approved statement on page 9, “What it means to be a college for women,” is the latest, and perhaps clearest articulation of Saint Ben’s position on inclusion, diversity, and women’s rights. But it’s not a paradigm shift. It’s the evolution of a core tenant that is as foundational as the cornerstone of the Main building. Actually, it goes further back than that. It goes back to the sisters arriving on a frozen prairie well over a century ago with a calling to educate marginalized and disenfranchised young women. Since its inception, Saint Ben’s has existed to elevate, empower and educate women so they can lead courageously, advocate passionately, think critically, and seek to dismantle the structures that would hinder them – or the women who follow behind them.
And today, that mission is as important as ever.
