Talk Inspects Gender, Learning Experiences

Edee Schulze, vice president for student life at Westmont, examines how small inequities can create a negative learning experience for female college students on Thursday, Oct. 16, from 3:30-5 p.m. in Winter Hall’s Darling Foundation Lecture Hall (Room 210) at Westmont. The Gender Studies Lecture, “Gender Dynamics at Two Christian Liberal Arts Institutions,” is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Helen Rhee, associate professor of religious studies, at (805) 565-6834.

Schulze will summarize findings from two qualitative research projects at other Christian liberal arts institutions. “The studies sought to understand gender assumptions of faculty and students,” Schulze says, “to explore the impact these assumptions have on gender dynamics in the classroom and on campus and how these dynamics affect the educational experiences and aspirations of female students at these colleges.”

She says small inequities, communication patterns, gender role assumptions and faculty and peer behaviors can create negative atmospheres for female students to learn and participate.

Schulze served as Bethel University’s vice president of student life for six years before coming to Westmont earlier this year. Prior to working at Bethel, she served at Wheaton College in Illinois for 21 years in a variety of positions including dean of student life (1997-2008). She graduated from California State Polytechnic University before earning a master’s degree at Wheaton and a doctorate from Loyola University Chicago.