Genetic or Not: 5 Ways College Campuses Are Socially Constructed by Gender

By Meredyth Staunch on February 24, 2017

As a former engineering major — and as other women engineers can attest — the classrooms were predominately testosterone-infested as the typical male college student enjoyed “getting his hands dirty.”

That is not to say that men cannot undertake a major in education, or, say journalism, and women cannot complete a degree in engineering or computer programming. This, however, is to elude to the apparent educational differentials based on gender. Stretching from which major is “more masculine” for men to how women are treated in the classroom all raise viable inquiries as to why college students “choose to do what they do” and whether gender is socially constructed within the educational program, ultimately influencing our decisions and how we act.

Thankfully, the workforce and the school system has marginalized this once considerable gap — despite the progress, though, there are still ubiquitous differentials.

1. Clubs on Clubs on Clubs

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While you’re probably thinking, “my student government committee involves both guys and girls,” or “my sorority has events with the guys from other frats,” let us take a step back to look at how the clubs are constructed and portrayed in the public eye.

Take any sorority, for instance. I am not bashing the Greek system but find it funny how the first element I notice at a recruiting event is pink throw-up everywhere. No, the girls did not ingest food or a beverage that had pink food coloring, but there are literally pink table cloths and pink cupcakes and pink bows filling the rooms. Whatever happened to blue?

And why are sororities so adamant on showcasing women’s femininity? Did this stem from parents persistently dressing their little girls in pink and purple when they were infants and baby boys in blue to distinguish gender? All I’m asking is what happens if pink isn’t my favorite color or I don’t religiously dress nicely every day?

On the flip-side, fraternities showcase guys strutting in their Sperry’s and Vineyard Vine frockets – since when did this become a thing? Society has constructed what is the norm for a particular group, and ultimately if you do not fit the criteria, you are not invited back to it. It is favorable that student government organizations on college campuses involve both genders, but ask yourself this question: who usually gets the vote?

2. Who is Your Teacher? 

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I’m going to keep this question brief: who teaches your classes? Do you typically find yourself having a conversation with a male or female education major professor? Thermodynamics is a difficult class — what gender is your instructor? While I hope that you say you have seen or have been taught by both males and females within these areas of expertise, chances are the topics are skewed for “who is best-fit to teach” — this being said lightly as both males and females are equally qualified, but we have grown accustomed to one gender as predominant to the other in a particular field.

Whether this discrepancy stemmed from what is considered “lady-like” as female professors should not teach a class that is more science-based because it is out of their realm and challenges the men’s masculinity, ultimately deriving competition with their male counterparts, there are no exact answers to these inquiries. All that can be analyzed is through observation.

3. Gender Percentage Gap 

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It is no surprise that the gender ratio at colleges is not exactly 50/50; there cannot be a perfect ratio within every university. However, each university has a trend of women making up most of the population; from 55 to as much as 60 percent as seen with Boston University, there are thousands more female students on college campuses. Some may argue that it is a coincidence or maybe females are smarter and, therefore, have a higher acceptance rate into universities.

Is this really the case? Personally, I interpret it as an economic factor: the labor market barriers for women have been lowered, and, thus, the benefits of education for women grew substantially. The gender wage gap still exists within the employment system. Because there has not been an Equal Rights Amendment passed, employers can, and often, pay females less than that of males; actually, they are paid 80 cents for every dollar males are paid.

Along with this point, females are more likely to be paid part-time because they need to fulfill their “other duties” of childcare and cleaning the house that is so prevalent with the “acceptable” mother daily routine. Females have realized these unequal opportunities and saw fit that they receive an education instead of conforming to the ridiculously skewed “housewife” role.

4. ROTC  

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Though wonderful that colleges offer a Reserve Officer Training Corps, point blank, there is a much greater ratio of males than females within the program. Since we were younger, we were taught what was acceptable and how we should behave. When I was in elementary school, I was ostracized by the girls in my class since I played Red Rover with all the guys and would sometimes arm wrestle them. Who said girls couldn’t do this, and if they did, why were they labeled as “Tom boys?”

Similarly, women’s femininity and men’s masculinity are overplayed when it comes to the military. It is admirable, regardless of gender, to partake in the program, but women are questioned more about their decisions than men. As of 2017, the United States Military Academy recorded the male-to-female ratio as 83 percent to 17 percent. Some argue that gender is very much so biologically based as far as physique is concerned, but we formulate preconceived ideas of how a typical man or women should behave or look — the only difference comes down to genitalia.

5. Gender in the Classroom  

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Of course, everyone hates being called on during class, especially if you don’t know the answer. We all make ourselves look busy like we are thinking really hard about the answer, or we look down at our notebooks, pretending to find the answer, hoping our professors don’t call us to answer the seemingly impossible question.

When the professor does decide to call on a student, though, do you notice which gender he or she typically calls on? There is always the favorite student of whom a teacher will look to as a saving grace if no one else has a general idea what is going on, but recent studies from Columbia University have shown that teachers call on male students more frequently than females. In fact, they have been demonstrated to ask males more abstract questions and are less likely to elaborate on points made by female students.

Favoritism; maybe sexism? I do not believe these are the answers to the overlying instances mentioned — however, based on Columbia’s research and my own experience, females are much less likely to participate and be called on because they are perceived to be less confident in themselves and less assertive. These are very subjective biases, which should not just be bound by a certain gender; rather, look at the students’ upbringings. Confidence is one of the key personality traits formed as a toddler; if it is not adequately instilled, who says gender is to blame?

Gender doesn’t need to be a factor determining which clubs you join and how those organizations are portrayed, or even how you are treated within the classroom setting. Universities, such as my own, are instilling “oaths of inclusion,” and while they have good intentions, there are inherent biases formulated because of how we were raised and the gender roles which are normal to the society. This has not only affected us college students, but even after we graduate: the jobs we are hired to, how our bosses treat us based off of preconceived ideas, and our pay.

We’re not Kim Possible and can’t change the world, but we can advocate for what is right and just to each of us.

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