Of this year’s 41 candidates — the largest slate of candidates since 1999 — 26 are female, according to Young Alumni Trustee administrator Leslie Rowley.
The Young Alumni Trustee is elected annually to serve a four-year term on the University’s Board of Trustees. Over the past three years, women numbered between 20 and 30 percent of the overall applicant pool. In 2011, seven of the 31 candidates were female, and in 2010, seven of the 24 were female.
The current Young Alumni Trustees are Aku Ammah-Tagoe ’11, Josh Grehan ’10, Liz Dilday ’09 and Meaghan Petersack ’08.
Rowley said in an email that there were no changes in marketing strategy or the general process that may have contributed to this increase.
“As administrators of the Young Alumni Trustee election process, what our office is most pleased to see is the increase in overall interest, by both men and women, to serve the University in the capacity of trustee,” Rowley said.
The leap in female applicants this year comes at the heels of the publication of the report of the Steering Committee on Undergraduate Women’s Leadership in March 2011.
The report identified disparities between the numbers of women and men in high-profile campus leadership positions and encouraged more mentorship programs between female upperclassmen and freshmen and more encouragement from professors for female students to pursue leadership positions.
Claire Cole ’12, a YAT applicant, said that although she received emails from administrators reminding her about the YAT position and encouraging her to apply, she had already made up her mind about applying to be a YAT.
Although the Steering Committee’s work did not focus specifically on the YAT position, many members said they were pleased by the large number of female applicants. However, many noted that it was not possible to determine fully if the report had any impact on this year’s YAT applicant pool in particular.
“It’s hard to say what the connection might be,” sociology professor and Committee member Thomas Espenshade GS ’72 said in an email. “But perhaps the Steering Committee’s report has gotten the conversation started.”
Many female YAT applicants said that the Steering Committee may have helped by bringing the issue of women’s leadership to the forefront of campus conversation. Many of the female mentorships are involved in mentorship groups inspired by the Steering Committee.
Shannyn Gaughan ’12, a candidate for YAT, co-founded Women of Mathey Advising Network and said that having female role models in high leadership positions encourages more women to apply for opportunities like YAT.
“Three of the four current Young Alumni Trustees are women. Perhaps the rise in female applicants this year= can be partially attributed to the example they have set. Also, regardless of who wins the election this year, I hope that the female presence in the election encourages many women to run in the election next year,” Gaughan said in an email.
Many of the applicants said they were not surprised by the increase in female applicants or the general increase in all applicants this year. Some applicants attributed the increase to the idea that their class was generally very involved on campus and felt that they had encountered strong female leadership especially in campus organizations.
“There are a lot of female leaders on campus, and I think Princeton is a place that can breed women leaders,” said Talia Kwartler ’12, another candidate for YAT. “I think it’s a good thing, a great thing, and a sign that things are working.”
Candidate Evan Welch ’12 said he feels that his class is “predictably involved” and that the high number of applicants for YAT this year reflects the abundance of upperclassman leadership on campus.
Welch said he was not surprised by the increase in female applicants and added that he didn’t initially notice that more than half the applicants were female.
“I think it’s a good thing I didn’t notice because it’s how it should be,” Welch said. “I don’t have a trend in my head that women are less effective than all the men I know. I definitely think it’s evened out to how it is supposed to be.”
Christina Chang ’12, a YAT candidate, expressed similar thoughts on the almost even number of men and women running this year. Chang said she is glad to see a pool of applicants that more accurately reflects the 50-50 ratio of men and women in the student body.
“I’m really glad that so many people and so many women feel the way I do,” Chang said. “I want to keep giving back to Princeton after all the support and rewarding experiences it has given me.”
Sanchali Pal ’12, another candidate for YAT, was involved with the Steering Committee last year and is now involved with women’s mentorship programs on campus. The increased mentorship efforts build on work by the committee, which identified the first 100 days of a freshman’s life on campus as a crucial time for finding interests and developing key friendships.
Pal said the best thing done by the Steering Committee was to bring visibility to the issue of undergraduate female leadership and added that she hopes a more balanced pool of applicants continues to run in future YAT elections.
“I think it’s a good indication of how things can go,” Pal said. “I hope it lasts.”
The primary election for YAT begins online on March 6 and runs through March 15. The final election will take place in late spring.
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