Minute Taker: David D Antonio

Women in Leadership Ad-Hoc

Director: Hunter DeBellis

Minute Taker: David D’ Antonio

Meeting Location: HUB 322

I.  Introduction: Hunter DeBellis gave a brief overview of woman in leadership and what to expect and then introduced Andrea Dowhower Associate Vice President of Student Affairs.

II.  Andrea began to start the conversation of what are some advantages and disadvantages in leadership and wanted to tell her story. She spoke about how lucky she was to be in an upper middle class family and how she was a second generation college student. She spoke about how by reading and writing her not only her own biography but others as well she discovered her advantages and disadvantages she had while growing up. She talked about how she excelled in the non-stem fields but also got great grades in stem, so she asked what would’ve been different if she had chosen a job field in stem.

III.  She talked about how she was an avid athlete in high school and college and how she never wanted lose. She spoke of how she thought she was going to become a counselor while in college but changed her mind and majored in social work. After her undergrad she was looking at other options for her masters and doctoral degrees. She chose her master’s degree with a track towards student affairs. After she went to the University of Maryland she continued at Susquenhanna university then went off to do her doctoral work at The Ohio State university in higher education and then came back to Penn State.

IV.  She talked about her hardship whiling applying to Penn State because she was seven months pregnant. She also talked about the work life balance while having children and how the employer looks at that. First question she asked was is it a family friendly atmosphere. She said maintaining life as a mother is different than a father. She spoke about how it was a great problem in negotiating with the university on delaying her start date. She said most people that new her when she started probably thought she was a wreck because of balancing everything between family and work. She highlighted how there is a connection between a mother and her child. She highlighted that she kept her maiden name. She said her and her husband’s first real argument was over her changing her name. She spoke of a story of when she had her son and she was in the hospital her mother-in-law tried to send her flowers but since she didn’t keep her husband’s last name they never made it. She said she has been at the university for fourteen years. She talked about the changes in 2008 she took to take her current position. She oversees 35 million in budget needs and 250 employees. She says how she is second in command within her department at the university and many women are at the same level she is at the university. She said she has a support network here at work with those women that are at her level. She said if she would’ve chosen a different path she would be in a whole new place and maybe not here. She said outside of work or children she doesn’t have much balance. But she said there is still a sense of a ceiling. She said while attending president’s council five years ago she was the only woman in the room and now there is around five.

V.  Hunter DeBellis asks the room have you ever been asked if you were the secretary? Are you something to do with PR? Has there been a discriminatory action in the workplace? Maddie Shoaf Beaver said she works in the restaurant business and she said she was expected to basically use her body by how she dressed or her makeup. Synthea Harrston Fayette stated how she felt very uncomfortable in a committee meeting and how she was asked if she had some aggression but she was just trying to convey how she felt. Andrea spoke of the commonality of how women express themselves and people say how they are coming off as aggressive. Hunter DeBellis on the hire committee for food and service experienced a man asking her if she was there at the meeting to be a secretary or just to look good. Andrea expressed how we can be better leaders and how to handle these types of situations. Andrea said in the case of these situations men can be allies. Andrea said we should see both sides, and say how do we not let women be victims, and also how men are not the perpetrator. Andrea said challenge the stigma about women. An example, in president’s session another woman in the room distributed dessert to the rest of the presidents. Andrea also said you must pick your battles. She gave an example her friend that worked at Penn State before, if someone used the word girl she went crazy because she did not like that stereotype used. She also used an example how she was called in front of people a token woman and how she felt about it. She talked about again challenging the stereotypes. She said she tries not to fall into those stereotypes. Andrea also talked about maybe having to take the next step which is reporting someone. Also she clarified if you don’t report someone it’s okay that doesn’t make you a bad person.

VI.  Questions/Discussion: Alyssa Mount Alto asked Hunter DeBellis what happened in her situation, she said she probably didn’t respond correctly but she contacted the correct people to take care of the situation. Kendal from Hazelton, what happens if its anther woman? Andrea responded with the same answer it’s the same action or response. Hunter spoke about how gender has an impact on everything. Andrea spoke about looking at research for instance about athletes and how they are portrayed in today’s society. Hunter and Andrea both talked about the benefits of an all-girls high school. Samantha Hazelton said it was a shame because the stigma is embedded in all girl’s brains and how it is not right and how it needs to change. Andrea spoke how she used to have a boss that called her kiddo. Samantha from Hazelton spoke about her issues she faced with being woman, and how her being short people made fun of her. But she said she stood up for herself and said she was only a human being. Kyle Fayette asked if Hunter had any obstacles she faced while running for VP, she said yes and she still does. She said one of the reasons is because of her name being Hunter she said people usually think that she’s a man and she is not. Hunter said for success in leadership whether it be a man or woman talking to someone about these issues is better than just holding it all in. Andrea began to talk about how it’s hard to prove yourself to many different people and how you have to overcome those problems in the university. She also talked about post title 9 and coaching. She said prior to title nine there were around 95% women coaches, now that number is down to around 50%. Kirsten Fayette, talked about how the adversity she’s been facing with the cross country team and how the head coach which is a man was helping the guys more than her. She felt he didn’t mean to not help her but she felt she was not treated correctly. Zak commented and said how to shut people up is results. No matter the prejudgments people had results is what helps. Hunter said in closing that women need to work on this and men need to start pointing it out, if a woman is saying sorry for maybe being late or just saying sorry because she is there, it needs to be pointed out. She said you shouldn’t have to apologize to be a woman. Hunter said the Ad-Hoc will stay with response from the commonwealth.