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The Labyrinth, the Cliff, …and the Sticky Floor (Week 2)

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The Labyrinth, the Cliff, …and the Sticky Floor (Week 2)

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In class today we discussed the most popular existing metaphors that describe the journey of women towards the path of leadership. For starters, I gained a new perspective onto the importance of metaphors. Prior to doing the reading and the discussion, I only saw metaphors as a literary device that was used in fiction. I never thought the concept could expand itself into something more - a symbol that inspires others and produces a form of change in society. In this way, I now see them similarly to how I have always viewed films. Of course, majority of movies made now are done for entertainment purposes, but there's few that stick with me and have restructured how I live my life and what I dedicate myself to because of what the film themselves mean and represent. Except that in this case, metaphors represent something much more grand I feel because the comparison is not being made between that of fiction and reality, but it is a comparison of reality TO reality. It is a bit difficult for people (myself included) to have an open-mind and try to view things in a different perspective. It would be easy if you could literally live through the same life someone else is, but that is impossible. I think metaphors are the simplest and easiest way we can explain to others who may not have any idea for how to gain another's perspective on an issue.

As for the metaphors, I think I was in agreement with most in my classroom about how the labyrinth metaphor appears to be the most successful in detailing a woman's journey into leadership. Following the labyrinth, I liked the glass ceiling metaphor second just because of the hyperbole of having to smash through the glass roof in order to find a leveled place with the other leaders. It is still sad to think how for many cases, this does remain true in how much effort one has to put in order to be seen as equal, but I do not think it accounts for context of a woman's position and the distinct goals in their field. I think that the sticky floor metaphor was my least favorite, and it was just because of its bare simplicity. I think it does its job well, but similar to the glass ceiling it goes to the extreme and it only speaks of one end of a woman's career story, in this case being the possible issues she would face at the beginning of her career. Same with the glass ceiling metaphor, it can only be interpreted to detail the ending journey for a woman in leadership. I think the reason I enjoy the labyrinth metaphor the most is because of how it also represents life; life has no straight paths and many times you are going to get lost and have to turn back and rethink your decisions. However, I especially like this metaphor the most because it gives hope in the possibility that it is possible to achieve the goals women put for themselves, for all women is what I mean.

I think every one of these metaphors will have their own issues as everyone's journeys vary and not everyone begins at the same position. There are those who are more fortunate and have a farther lead in their career from the get-go. Others are not so fortunate, but still as I had mentioned, everyone has the same opportunity to reach that middle area that encompasses success for all your goals.

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For our third week of this honors seminar, the class had the opportunity to hear from two Honors advisors, Regan Baker and Melissa Nolan, about their life experiences and how their journey has led up to working in this organization, along with what are the expectations that are placed for Honors students. It was interesting to hear from both Ms. Melissa and Ms. Regan since the main lesson I took from the two is that you may accidentally stumble onto a lot of the opportunities you end up taking in life. For me, what that tells me is that while you must always have your end-goal in mind and try to work with a firm structured lifestyle, it is a great idea to implement a level of open-mindedness onto that lifestyle as well.

I have almost always been a more rigid kind of person (i.e., I have always stuck to schedules, kept all my environments clean and organized, and put priority on my work ethic). Last year, however, I attempted to become more flexible, both in my schedule and in my character. That is not to say that it is difficult for me to be more flexible, but I have always preferred to remain more structured since it feels like I am more aware of my responsibilities. I have thought of being able to find a way to combine the two ideas together, and I think that is something I want to actually start working on now. The discussion we had in class about Honors made me realize that I should be working towards a clear end-goal and try to create a just as equally clear pathway towards that goal. Now, that does not mean that everything will turn out exactly as I plan one-to-one. I think it should stay in place more as a reminder as to what I should be working towards, while still keeping an open mind to new opportunities and always having that desire to learn about new things.

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A Long List of Library Resources (Week 4)

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A Long List of Library Resources (Week 4)

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In this week of class, instead of having a discussion over an article, we had the opportunity to hear from one of the library specialists on how to use the databases as well as the library to aid us in researching papers and schoolwork. Working at a library, I was already familiar with a lot of the resources and functions within the library system, but I was surprised at how much the library has to offer with its databases. The “summon” feature in the Billington Library website I especially found impressive for how much into detail you can get for looking up a specific topic. I was happy to hear about the option to order ILL books and articles online. I was able to already use that for one of my own papers from another class and it was a speedy process. Usually, I would have assumed that the search process for finding secondary sources would be a bit tedious, but there is a broad amount of search options that are surprisingly extremely useful as a student. It is also great that there is already a citation generator for each article you investigate. It goes without saying that it would likely have turned out impossible for me to have not ever used the Billington Library resources at all in my time at Johnson County, but it was helpful to get some tips and pointers on using the website!

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Open Negotiation in Family Households (Week 5)

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Open Negotiation in Family Households (Week 5)

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In this week of class, our discussion was based on the article, “Do family responsibilities hold women back?” Some of the biggest takeaways I personally got from this article is the fact that evidently family responsibilities do indeed hold women back, and the female gender appears to be the one impacted the most by family responsibilities. The article was able to provide some statistics that were taken away from time diaries individuals would share for research purposes, and it is almost always women having to carry a more difficult weight than men in terms of balancing work and home life in pretty much all situations. However, this balance of home and work life is much more detrimental to women’s work journey than simply having to have a handle on all things as, according to statistics provided by the article, many women attempt to find more flexible jobs to fit their schedule which in the long run hurts them in keeping a steady pace in their path towards leadership compared to their male counterparts. I would not say I was too surprised with the statistics provided in the article as I always observed from my own home life that my own mother was always keeping herself busy and had to be on top of things sometimes more than my own father, to use a personal example. However, it is surprising to hear how making such decisions to dedicate more time with family can tamper with one’s work goals and it is also a bit saddening to hear. For our class discussion, there was a consensus on the idea that there is not really a “single” solution that can be provided for this specific problem as it indeed ends up varying for how each couple functions within their dynamic and relationship. The biggest solutions the class found that would greatly improve the issue of family responsibilities, and that was not dependent on a couple’s dynamic, was to always keep open communication and, more importantly, there needs to be a great deal of negotiation for there to be an equal balance between each couple’s work load, both at home and at their jobs. Thinking back to the discussion, I find that there is great power in changing a lot of the attitudes modern society has by simply encouraging open negotiation between all relationships. The article had also mentioned that there are several women who decide to take on a much heavier load of work compared to their spouses because they can place more importance in their other family member’s emotions and overall wellbeing over themselves. The notion is both kind and compassionate, but I think introducing more negotiation into a majority of relationships can also help people who are overall selfless to also be considerate of their own efforts and their wellbeing. Another thing that we discussed in class was the stigma that women are “more inclined to be cleaners” of the house. And once again, open negotiation between couples would be the best suited plan in giving each partner tasks that at the end of the day are equal in effort and size.

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The Existence of Discrimination in Society (Week 7)

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The Existence of Discrimination in Society (Week 7)

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For this week’s discussion, we talked about the topics covered in the article, “Is Discrimination Still a Problem?” To nobody’s surprise, both the article and the class were in great agreement that yes, discrimination is still an ongoing issue that a lot of people deal with on a daily basis. One of the key points that the article discussed was the wage gap difference between men and women. Due to the existence of the glass escalator, despite people’s qualifications discrimination in work environments is what is allowing men to get ahead even in fields where women are predominating. I was shocked by this fact alone, since I would have assumed that in a job environment where women are the employment majority, women would have the advantage despite candidates’ qualifications. Somehow it is the other way around wherein discrimination is transcendent of these barriers and there are much more harsher expectations placed for non-males throughout all career fields. This idea of transcendent discrimination is highly upsetting to me since it proves that there is much more to the issue of an unequal wage gap than the money itself. It is a difficult situation since bias is not something that can be easily perceived, in my opinion, and even if a job hirer were to say that they focused on each candidates’ qualifications, it is impossible to say whether some discriminatory beliefs came into the deciding process or not. Like the issues we have discussed before, I believe that one of the better solutions that can aid in resolving this issue is educating the up-and-coming generations for how they are to judge each person’s character and keeping an objective process that keeps intact a humane aspect.

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This week there was no class discussion, but this brief reflection will be covering some of the things that were talked about in the article, “What is the Psychology of Prejudice Towards Women Leaders?” In my experience reading this article, the topic that stood out to me the most was the discussion of agentic and communal traits, and how those can be mentally associated to either gender, and how for many it is done so unintentionally. Some of these mental associations can stem from a person’s upbringing.

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Resistance of Women’s Leadership (Week 9)

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Resistance of Women’s Leadership (Week 9)

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In this week’s class discussion, we talked about the article, “Do people resist women’s leadership?” Unfortunately, I was ill on the day we were meant to have the discussion and so unfortunately, I was not present for the conversation. However, I will still give some thoughts on the subject. The Double Bind was the biggest part of this article that stood out to me. Due to some of the mental associations that had been discussed in the previous article, I think many men can be opposed to the idea of a female leader. Especially for women, there exists an idea that they cannot be allowed to be “too much” of one thing or the other, either agentic or communal. However, because there is also the general belief that women tend to lean more towards being communal, it can be shocking to some people that a woman appears anything outside of that perspective.

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Leadership in Johnson County Community College (Week 10)

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Leadership in Johnson County Community College (Week 10)

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This week for our discussion our class had the grand opportunity to speak with some of the leaders for the student organizations in JCCC. For our discussion we were able to not only have a conversation about some of the ongoing and existing issues of gender and leadership that some of these leaders work against, but as well as get multiple pieces of advice that relate to these topics and general pieces of advice for being leaders. There was a consensus about the fact that for the non-male leaders at Johnson County there is always more self-awareness between their own gender and the leadership role they have in the organization. However, for the leaders we were able to speak with on the day we held our discussion it seems as though there is a positive improvement for all genders respecting everyone’s boundaries. There seems to be a grander focus for focusing on people’s character instead of their gender or other physical characteristics. While one of the female leaders informed the class that her character is much more upfront about the tasks at hand, another female leader emphasized their reasoning of kindness and compassion in terms of leading other people; comparatively, while there seems to remain a pursuit of balance for agentic and communal traits for all the leaders that spoke to the class on our day of discussion, it also appears that due to the emphasis of developing one’s own character and leadership style despite gender that on paper there will be less expectations and stereotyping for non-male leaders, all very great things. Outside of that, I enjoyed the pieces of advice that cleared up the idea that leaders must always remain “tough”. While all leaders did mention that it was important for each of them to appear fine and prepared in front of their peers and those who look up to them for directions, they still touched on some humane aspects for generally allowing yourself to break down and admit to feeling stressed if feeling as it. Some of these issues would need to be dealt with in privacy, but that is where the importance of building an inner network comes into play. Having friends and professors to speak to about some of your own issues and receiving help from them is great in managing some of that stress that cannot always come out in front of other peers. A few final pieces of advice that heavily resonated with me were, once again, the focus on developing one’s own leadership style, and especially the idea that as a successor one should not simply repeat everything that your predecessor did as a leader, but to add your own personal touch to how things are done in your new role. I was also reminded that time spent with family and having a place or an activity that takes your mind away from everything that is stressing you out can be extremely important with managing a lot of the stressful feelings one can deal with while leading others. Finally, the idea of “doing it scared” was a motto that stayed with me since leadership roles always signify potential criticism, but to take up the mantle of a leader means to practically always be brave and having to do things that even if are simple can be scary to yourself. There will always be some level of fear of those things, but it is far more important to proceed with leadership since there exist more important things that need to be done.

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Balancing Leadership as a Non-Male (Week 11) 

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Balancing Leadership as a Non-Male (Week 11) 

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For this week’s discussion of class, we talked about the topics covered in the article, “Do women lead differently than men?” As we had seen in the previous week of class with some of the leaders from student organizations on campus that the class had the privilege to speak with, every single person pretty much has their own style that has been developed based off their own character and that they find great success in for themselves. I think it can become a generalized statement to say that non-males have a different style of leadership compared to men, at least for our current time. That is not to say that there remains a common belief that women lead in a more collaborative and democratic manner, as the article itself points out. Reading through the article, I felt that a mixture of the two most prominent styles (one leaning more towards agentic and the other leaning towards communal) would turn out to be most effective in most environments. However, that is also a huge issue that many non-males face in having to tightly balance both agentic and communal qualities as leaders. I think finding ways to make this an equal struggle or challenge for all genders would be the best way to improve on this issue, although as to what approach to take I am not sure of. In our discussion, we also talked about the influence that the media has had on current leadership styles. From what I discussed amongst my peers, it is safe to say that a large pressure for maintaining a good balance between agentic and communal qualities does come from the press and the media in general. I think that is owed to being in a society that due to social media and the technology we have at our disposal, everyone is a lot more vigilant and observant with one’s actions and can also be a lot more judgmental and critical than times before. Especially with non-male leaders, as the article had mentioned many non-male leaders stand out since they are typically leaders who defy social expectations, there is always a lot more coverage and criticism on non-male leaders to better fit the image they have pictured for them.

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Escaping the Labyrinth and Discussing the Idea of "Having It All" (Week 12)

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Escaping the Labyrinth and Discussing the Idea of "Having It All" (Week 12)

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For our discussion this week, we focused on our final article reading titled, “How Do Some Women Find Their Way Through the Labyrinth?” The article itself mainly gave advice to non-males on navigating through the labyrinth successfully. The advice that the author gives to non-males is based on the idea of accepting the labyrinth, not because there is no change that can be done, but more so accepting the reality of it and trying to adapt to it as well as fighting against it. The two biggest pieces offered in the article for navigating the labyrinth is that non-males should demonstrate both agentic and communal traits as leaders, trying their best to balance the two, and building a social capital throughout their work journey. I think that for me personally I struggled a bit with this idea, and partly do not fully support the full-on acceptance of the labyrinth, and I was able to voice this opinion with the class. For me, there is issue with accepting the labyrinth since it does feel like conformity in a way. The metaphors discussed in class are based on social constructs and I feel that while there is not an exact answer as to how the deconstruction of a social construction should be approached, fully embracing and adapting to one is not my preferred manner for the issue. However, I am not completely opposed to it since I can acknowledge the fact there is no clear approach to tackling the issue and I do believe still that it is completely reasonable to balance an adaptable approach to the labyrinth as well as trying to reconstruct it into something that encourages equal challenges and opportunities for all genders. For the class conversation, I was happy that there was unison agreement in the idea that everybody’s voices should be validated and that, as the article mentioned, the issues in gender and leadership cannot be a one-sided approach but must be a team effort by all parties. A piece of advice that some of my peers were able to come up with in the discussion was the idea that there should be an improved encouragement in all environments for men to ask their non-male peers for how they can be supportive for different kinds of situations. Lastly, there was some discussion on the idea of “having it all” or achieving every goal one sets to attain despite the circumstances they are in, or the issues present. Like before, I was not fully in support of what the consensus was for the majority of those in the discussion. Others were able to get by or accept the idea of not being able to have it all on some level, and while I do say I do not fully agree with the idea, there is nothing wrong with the different perspective on this matter since I can say that the reasoning is still kind-hearted. Two arguments were made for reasoning not having it all, the first being that while one may not be able to achieve everything that is a waste since one would be looking over the things they already do have. Some opinions were shared about the idea that there should foremost be an appreciation of things a person already has. Secondly, the idea that achieving everything could lead to a boring life was discussed, as well. I think this idea is completely valid as many people, including myself, live their lives almost goal-based in trying to pursuit one thing after the other and following up with what would be the next level up. There are a couple of reasons that I personally do not want to embrace the notion of accepting not having it all, and the first has to do with its connection to the labyrinth since I think accepting the idea of not being able to have it all is accepting the labyrinth as well, and I have already spoken on my disagreement for fully embracing the labyrinth. After some brief reflection, however, I think a huge reason as to why I place myself on the other side of the argument is because while in previous years of my life I would have agreed that it is completely fine to not have all things, looking back at my childhood and home life, having grown up in a higher-lower class to lower-middle class home, my outlook on this issue changed because I have lived through many struggles based on living in tight money conditions and seeing my parents deal with this. I appreciate how these issues never broke them or their ideals, but while I think other people dispel the idea of achieving it all since it can come off as materialistic, I base my own perspective on people’s character. While it’s unreasonable to think that everyone should have everything they desire or wish to accomplish, there are so many people out there who are fully deserving of the life they imagine having and work so hard to accomplish. Sure, there should be a balance in what we wish to achieve as we are all still human, but our discussions are still heavily based on social constructs so who is to say that nobody can truly achieve everything despite all the circumstances the world presents to oneself? More than anything, I think I wish to keep a hopeful outlook on the matter and based on the discussions we have it seems that things are moving forward in a better direction.

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Today was our final class for this seminar and to conclude the semester the class presented each of their metaphors in a three-to-five-minute PowerPoint presentation. I was feeling a tad nervous before presenting since it would be my first presentation in front of a class since starting university. However, those nerves went away as everybody gave their presentations. I was surprised at the level of depth for many people’s metaphors; in fact, I felt that all the metaphors, as well as the presentations, were all well-thought out and well done. Some of my favorite metaphors were the lifeboat, containing similar ideas to the glass cliff although still much more expansive, the juggling metaphor, which I found a lot of similarities to my own metaphor in the fact that there needs to be a balance found, the broken car metaphor, as well as the uncharted waters metaphor, and especially the metaphor using the Odyssey as a large symbol. Reading is a big hobby of mine and I have a large interest in classic literature, so it was surprising to see the Odyssey used as a comparative metaphor. While not as simple, I like how complex that metaphor in specific can get with its connection of its narrative events and its characters, as well. I felt mostly content with my own presentation. I had been working hard on creating the graphic for my tightrope metaphor, and while there were some technological barriers I had to work through such as trying to relearn the Adobe Illustrator program and coloring the image on my laptop, I was happy with the final output of the overall drawing. I could have used much more practice, and I think that would have aided me in the grade I received since I do recognize I had a few pauses and muttered some “ums” in my speech.  Still, I think I went over all the points I needed to get across in my presentation and I am glad of the opportunity to show the things I have learned throughout this seminar!