Struggles and triumphs of women in the workplace and academia are not often discussed among undergraduate students, but last night three professors at Penn facilitated a panel exploring these issues.
The three speakers were College Dean Rebecca Bushnell, Earth and Environmental Science Professor Andrea Grottoli and Dana Barron, executive director of Penn's Alice Paul Center for Research on Women and Gender.
Each of the women discussed her own personal struggles as a career woman as well as the hope for future female leadership both in academia and in the workplace.
Bushnell began the panel by talking about the importance of having women in leadership roles in academia.
In her position as a dean, she said she has the "ability to set a tone and a policy" in the University. But, she admitted that the University faculty is still male-dominated and women sometimes feel excluded. Bushnell stressed the necessity for women to take on key roles in academia in order to change this.
"I saw an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of women in Penn," Bushnell said of her chosen career path.
Grottoli continued the discussion by describing her experience as one of the only female members in her department.
"It is not that women are not welcome but they are not interested in going into this field," Grottoli said of the Earth and Environmental Science Department and later about science in general.
The competitiveness of a field where family needs to come second is a big reason for this, she explained.
Barron continued this train of thought, asking, "Why is it the numbers and statistics we have about inequality of women in the workplace are still out there?"
She explained that although "subtle discrimination" is a problem, it is really "motherhood that is standing in the way."
In her presentation, Barron presented a composite sketch of a Penn couple following an almost identical career track in law. But when the wife has a baby, she becomes marginalized in the law firm while her husband continues on the fast track.
Grottoli quickly agreed that there is a "tension between wanting children and wanting tenure." She also added that when she was an undergraduate, she "expected that when [she] would have to go through all this it would be fixed -- but it's not."
However, Bushnell said that there has been some progress made.
"I am a better teacher and scholar because I am a mother and vice versa," she said.
All of the panelists stressed the importance of male students being educated in the challenges that women face. They also stressed the importance of communication between spouses before and throughout marriage.
A small group attended the program, sponsored by Women in Thought, a campus group dedicated to promoting social and political awareness of women's issues on campus.
College senior Jenifer Rajkumar, the co-president of Women in Thought, said the panel "exceeded all her expectations."
Agreeing, co-president and College senior Smita Jain added, "This kind of conversation should happen often among undergraduates."
