Almost anyone can agree that diversity in race, gender and religion is key to ensuring that all people are equally represented, but a recent event in Saudi Arabia – the same country that bans women from driving – caught my attention. While the Saudi government sets the legal limits of women’s activity outside of the home, a women-only city will be created to attract and provide employment for women, who currently comprise about 15 percent of the country’s workforce. As archaic as it may sound, we have our own disparities in the U.S. “I’m sure that women can demonstrate their efficiency in many aspects and clarify the industries that best suit their interests, nature and ability,” said Authority Deputy Director General Saleh al-Rasheed, according to collegenews.com. Challen Nicklen, international studies and women’s and gender studies professor at the University, said the creation of the women-only city attempts to “mesh religious ideas with giving women opportunities.” “Saudi Arabia has been feeling some pressure from the global community to give women more opportunities,” Nicklen said. But upon hearing about shifting gender roles in Saudi Arabia, I began wondering about gender roles at home, which may be overlooked as a norm by most people. During the last century, gender roles have greatly shifted in the U.S., but male and female-oriented “things” still exist. For example, some programs like engineering and education have been gender-specific in the past, but even today, these career-paths still lack gender diversity. While 2,361 male students were enrolled in the College of Engineering during the spring semester, only 527 female students were enrolled in the program, according to the University’s Budget and Planning website. In contrast, 1,177 female students and 522 male students were enrolled in the School of Education in the spring. Some will argue that the minds of men and women are geared toward different interests, and I agree to an extent. But children are heavily influenced by their environment, and if there are few examples of female engineers, young girls may not seek out engineering as a possible career. Nicklen agreed. “The decisions people make about careers are impacted by role models,” Nicklen said. “When you see few women engineers, the possibility of that as a career choice for girls doesn’t seem like an option.” Based on traditional male stereotypes, some men may feel obligated to provide for a family and thus be the household bread winner, and because certain careers, including education, don’t produce a large financial incentive, they may feel discouraged from entering these positions. Even the socializations of boys and girls as children are quite different, said Kate Bratton, the University’s director of Women’s and Gender Studies. At an early age, boys are encouraged to play with toys like Legos that use special reasoning and can be manipulated while girls are typically encouraged to pretend with toys, which may help develop story-telling skills. While there has been a balancing out of many majors, some programs still lack diversity and should create a means to promote additional interest during and before college. XCITE, an annual pre-college program geared toward introducing female high school students to the field of engineering gauges their interest in a male-dominated field. The Society of Women Engineers is a student organization meant to provide a support system for female students interested in engineering that aids female students during their time at the University. Although it would be a major stretch to compare gender roles in Saudi Arabia to those at home, there is still work to be done to encourage more women to step up and take on traditional male roles. The College of Engineering should be applauded for the inclusion of SWE and the XCITE program, and other departments should follow its example.
Kate Mabry is a 21-year-old mass communication senior from New Orleans. ____ Contact Kate Mabry at [email protected]; Twitter: @KateMabry1