Faculty, students, and guest speakers, united Thursday and Friday at Penn State Behrend for the eleventh Annual Gender Conference.

    

This year’s theme was, “Speech and Silence.” Dr. Sarah Whitney, professor of English and Women’s Studies, explained to The Erie Reader. “The theme came from several student leaders this year. They were processing the rapid chain of events galvanizing the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements and suggested we host a conference on the theme of speaking up.”

    

The two-day conference had a variety of events that took place. There were student and faculty panels on contemporary gender issues, the impact of gender in the workplace, the diverse experience of LGBTQ+ parenting and on the general experience of LGBTQ+ students on campus. Additionally, the conference hosted a film festival that featured different topics, such as human trafficking, on-campus sexual assault, and the Women’s Liberation Movement.

    

Early Friday, three Slippery Rock students came to campus, including sophomore, Alex Sharo. He read his paper on gender-neutral phrases, such as using the greeting “hey guys” to a group of men and women and the implications that they hold when regarding the value of masculinity and femininity.

    

“In the Queer community, these familiarities further exacerbate inequalities between those that perform tradition, hegemonic masculinity, and those that do not,” he stated. “This form of colloquial speech has the potential to cause significant distress to the affected individuals and furthers the cultural assumption that the norm is masculine, while femininity or non-binary gender performance is deviant.”

    

The solidarity of people at the conference was nothing short of empowering. On Friday, Her Campus and Women Today brought together a diverse panel of Behrend Professors, including: Leigh-Ann Bedal, P.h.D, Associate Professor of Anthropology and History; Tia Young, P.h.D, Assistant Teaching Professor of Biology; Jill Johnson, M.S., Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering; Jalaa Hoblos, P.h.D., Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Software Engineering, Computer Science and Software Engineering; Jessica Zhao, P.h.D., Department Chair Finance and Economics and Professor of Finance; and Sara Luttfring, P.h.D, Program Chair of English and Associate Professor of English.

    

At this event, the room was filled with a majority of female professors and students and a minority of men, the complete opposite of Behrend’s actual population. Penn State Behrend has about a 35 percent population of female students and female professors compared to the 65 percent that males hold, according to Sharon Gallagher, P.h.D., Assistant Teaching Professor of En and Jalaa Hoblos, P.h.D., the only female professor of Computer Science holding a Ph.D. at Behrend. The percentage drops even further for women when it comes to professors with tenure, where 29 percent of the tenured professors are female and 71 percent is male.

    

The professors were asked a series of questions on how gender has shaped their professional career. Many of the professors on the panel, as well as in the crowd, spoke on the struggles they have endured in their careers.

    

Hoblos talked about her experience growing up in Lebanon, where her father always pushed her to be whatever she wanted to be. She was never told she could not do computer science or try a more “feminine degree” such as teaching or nursing. She then spoke strongly about her experiences in the workplace.

     

“We [females] have a big problem. We have a gap in respect and being taken seriously,” stated Hoblos.

    

Dr. Sara Luttfring, Program Chair of the English department spoke as well. When asked what her advice would be to young women going into their careers soon, Luttfring answered by explaining how powerful and valuable personal time is and how this time is spent differently as a woman. Men often delegate the small work to women, and women often accept trying to please their employers.

    

“Saying no is one of the most important skills you want to acquire,” Luttfring advised.  

    

The Gender Conference brought forward topics that have been silenced in the past and need to discussed by all genders. The more people talk and reach out together, the more things will change. As Malala Yousafzai, youngest Noble Prize laureate and Pakistani activist for female education, beautifully stated, “I raise up my voice—not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard...we cannot succeed when half of us are held back.”