Sp ke
Senior Destinations Map
THE
Conestoga High School, Berwyn, PA
Volume 61 No. 7
June 6, 2011
Losing the
LEAD 6
Females
Males
59
Females
Males
30
S
omewhere among the 508 graduates of the Class of 2011 are future pioneers, not just in the T/E community, but in the working world. By the numbers, this transition should correlate with a surge of new female leaders on the horizon. Yet even though females outnumber males in leadership positions at Conestoga by a 2:1 ratio, the gender gap does not favor women when they leave school campuses. Once women enter the business world, they’re no longer in the lead. “Men have a better shot at being successful because they’re men and they can use [female] relationship styles and be successful,” said Linda Jurczak, a researcher and assistant professor in the Communication Arts Department at Valdosta State University in Georgia. Jurczak’s findings were supported by a 2008 Pew Research Center study, which showed that Americans believe that women possess more important leadership traits, such as intelligence,
Stoganews.com
Students let down by ‘Tea’ controversy K.C. McConnell & Laura Weiss
News Editor & Co-editor-in-chief Students in executive leadership positions of clubs
1
Students selected for the HOBY Leadership Programsince 2005
Liz Bravacos & Meghan Morris Editors Emeritus
See p. 12-13
Graphic: Luke Rafferty, Sam Winfield and Mary Turocy/The SPOKE
compassion and creativity, than men. However, only six percent of respondents believed that women make better political leaders. Pew also reported that women compose just two percent of CEOs of the nation’s Fortune 500 companies and comprise a mere 16 percent of Congress. The numbers at the high school level are completely flipped. Though enrollment is almost evenly split here—49 percent of Conestoga is male—there are 30 male club presidents, compared to 59 female presidents among active groups (both numbers include co-presidents). Additionally, 152 girls were honored at Service and Leadership Award Night last month, compared to 95 boys. “We’ve seen strong female presence [in the Class of 2011],” said Principal Amy Meisinger. “It can fluctuate from year to year and some of that is just in regard to personality of the class and interest as well.” See GENDER, p. 4
When 2009 ’Stoga graduates Nick Dobner and Lewis West began the Three Cups of Tea club to help build a school in Afghanistan, they both strongly believed in Conestoga’s ability to make a difference. But two years after leading the group, which raised more than $9,000 for youth education in central Asia, they stand on separate sides of the debate regarding the charity that they once worked to help. During the 2008-09 school year, Dobner and West helped to start a campaign for funds to benefit the Central Asia Institute (CAI). The two students were inspired by the best-selling novel “Three Cups of Tea,” co-written by Greg Mortenson about his experiences helping to build schools in Pakistan, where there is often little emphasis on youth and female education. However, on April 17, Jon Krakauer, a writer who lent early support to CAI and Mortenson’s efforts, accused Mortenson of lying about his experiences in his book and mismanaging the CAI charity on the popular news broadcast “60 Minutes.” “It’s incredibly disappointing and very upsetting,” West said. “Not only because of what [Mortenson] did and that he misled people, but also [that] we were involved with working for an organization like that.” Though the ’Stoga effort was not officially affiliated with CAI, the community contributed hours of fundraising efforts and thousands of dollars to the charity. West even visited all World Cultures classes to help others recognize the need to support education in Pakistan. “At the time, [I wanted to help because] it seemed like a very effective organization with an inspiring story, which could be very easily applied to a community effort to make an international impact,” West said. See TEA, p. 3