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Promoting leadership and civic participation among young women was the theme of a workshop held earlier this month at Boston College. Forty-eight BC undergraduates representing all four undergraduate classes attended “Elect Her – Campus Women Win,” a national program that trains college women to run for student government and future political office.
The event, held Jan. 17 in the Heights Room of Corcoran Commons, was supported by a grant awarded by the program’s sponsors, the American Association of University Women and Running Start; BC was one of 50 sites around the US and Jamaica to offer the program.
The 48 participants were nominated by faculty members and administrators based on their experience with, and demonstrated interest in, leadership opportunities, according to Katie Dalton, director of the BC Women’s Center, which co-sponsored the workshop with the Career Center, Office of Student Programs and Undergraduate Government of Boston College.
The five-hour event included a talk on networking, a panel discussion with students involved in campus government and journalism, a presentation on social media by Office of News & Public Affairs Social Media Manager Melissa Beecher and a small-group exercise in running a political campaign. Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Joseph Du Point spoke, as did Aileen Kenney, a Milton Town Meeting member.
“The main idea that the workshop tried to convey was the importance of women’s voices, whether on the international, national or local level,” said Dalton. “A majority of the students at the outset said they didn’t want to run for office, but that started to change as the day progressed. We tried to show how significant leadership is on many kinds of levels – being president of a student club, for example, or being a member of your town meeting, like Aileen.”
Encouraging women to seek leadership roles on a larger scale – especially in the civic or political arena --– is challenging, she said, not least because women may have self-doubts. She noted one study that found women are less likely than men to seek public office if they believe they do not meet enough assumed qualifications.
Dalton expressed appreciation for her co-organizers’ assistance in putting together an event she described as a good starting point for a continuing conversation.
“You had almost 50 students come out on a cold Saturday of a long weekend in January, and be very engaged and thoughtful on an important topic. What’s next is to find ways of keeping the momentum going and expanding the dialogue, perhaps by utilizing services through the Career Center.
“Perhaps there could be a yearlong program for all students, male and female, because leadership and civic engagement is something everyone should think about.”