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IU Kokomo students present at Bloomington Women’s Conference
April 10, 2003 | |||||
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KOKOMO, Ind.—Two students will represent Indiana University Kokomo at the 15th Annual Indiana University Intercampus Women’s Studies/Gender Studies Conference, April 11 at the IU Bloomington campus. Michael Sandy and Jodi Harner, both of Kokomo, will be among the 25 IU undergraduates presenting research findings during the conference. Harner, who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in elementary education, will discuss “The Impact of Title IX in the Elementary School Classroom.” Sandy will look at social obstacles to female political candidates, in the presentation “Where Power is, Women Aren’t.” An Honors student majoring in social and behavioral sciences, Sandy completed the research projects as a requirement toward an honors diploma. “Both are excellent students who have worked very hard on their respective projects,” said associate professor of sociology Nancy A. Greenwood, Ph.D., director of the research. “I am pleased that they will have this opportunity to share their work.” Sandy put together “a very convincing presentation about why there are few women in political office,” Greenwood said. “My premise was that women are at a distinct disadvantage to men when running for elected offices,” Sandy said. He explored four challenges for women political candidates: the demands of women’s traditional family roles; campaign financing; difficulties within political parties; and women’s position in the private sector. Although male candidates still hold “significant advantage” over females in political fundraising, Sandy said that issue is becoming less of an obstacle for women. “Some studies showed that women were, in some cases, out-fundraising men,” he said. “Almost all of the female politicians that I found while researching listed the difficulty of balancing family obligations with their political careers as their biggest challenge.” Sandy would like to see more research into how women’s private sector jobs affect their ability to run for political offices. The “glass ceiling” that keeps many women from advancing in the business world may be depleting the pool of qualified female candidates, he believes. “Many political candidates come from the legal profession, which women are making gains in. However, they are still a small minority of the highest positions within law firms,” Sandy said. Similarly, relatively few women have reached the ranks of corporate executives—a field of professionals who, in recent years, have played a much larger role in politics, he noted. Harner’s research looks at the “unfortunate news . . . that there has been little change in gender discrimination in elementary schools” since the passage of Title IX in 1972, Greenwood said. Title IX amended the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, to prohibit sex discrimination in any academic, extracurricular, or other educational program (preschool to postgraduate) operated by a federally funded institution. “Literature reviewed suggests that important sex differences exist [in treatment of elementary students] that could be addressed by Title IX and have not been,” Harner said. “Other literature shows that children’s stories have hidden examples of discrimination.” The slowness to comply with Title IX might be tied to Harner’s finding that many new teachers “are not prepared to implement the provision of Title IX in their classrooms.”
“University texts for education majors address gender issues in less than 5 percent of content,” she said. Those setting standards for elementary education might want to examine such issues as “the ratio of boy/girl-centered questions on ISTEP or other assessment tests in math and science,” Harner added.
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