Boston College has always been commended as a Jesuit university actively involved in the advocacy and promotion of volunteer and service work. With more than 16 on-campus organizations offering accessible service opportunities for students, it is hard to believe membership does not accurately represent the entire student body. The 2006-2007 school year provided no change to the long running pattern found among these organizations: The proportion of women involved in service organizations and retreats is significantly higher than that of men. And while many groups say it doesn't matter who participates, the fact remains that application-based programs are more competitive for women than for men.
Each year, BC's own Intersections Program sponsors and coordinates seven Halftime retreats for students to escape from the chaos of campus life. Each three-day retreat, aimed at rising juniors, gives students beneficial tools and guidance to help them determine their vocation or goals in life. The opportunity to relax in the mountains of New Hampshire or Dover, Mass., is always an added plus. "One of the great things is that faculty and staff attend," said Jeff LaBroad, director of Halftime 34.The proximity of the students to professors and other faculty usually is found very appealing by participants. Professors take this chance to relate individually to students while offering additional spiritual and vocational guidance.
Doubling as both a retreat and service organization, Halftime is contingent upon the registration of leaders and the membership of attendees. Each retreat requires seven leaders and 32 to 35 students. While filling the leadership positions, it is impossible to achieve an equal proportion of men and women. Associate Director Michael Sacco explained how Halftime would prefer to balance its numbers. "Since we have seven leaders every time, there is a four-to-three ratio. There usually are more women than men but we try to get it overall to be as close to 50-50 as possible," he said.
Since the success of Halftime depends upon the relationships between leaders and younger students, the program wants a balanced number of leaders to satisfy the needs of both men and women applicants. "In the past we have had more women than men apply, which just limits our options," said LaBroad.
When selecting the students to attend, Halftime usually sees more applications from women than men. If the program is ever flooded with applicants, they usually cap the membership per retreat at 40 students. "The goal is to keep a 50-50 ratio between men and women students, but we will occasionally accept about five more women than men if more apply," said Sacco.
The Halftime program is not an unusual circumstance. The general pattern over the years has been the discrepancy between female and male involvement in campus-wide programs. "In general, it's a theme for all BC retreats and I think that it's applicable to Halftime as well," said Sacco, citing that even such events as annual resident assistant and orientation leader applications show an increase in female involvement.
The Appalachia Volunteers of Boston College is yet another prime service program offered at the University. Unlike Halftime, Appalachia offers a weeklong retreat in the spring to nearly 600 students each year. Students meet weekly throughout the year to discuss the importance of service and issues pertaining to their missions. The humbling atmosphere and personable discussions creates an inviting yearlong experience for students, which is also sans application. Many people see the lack of an application as an added plus, since the program is more accessible and less competitive. Students who join show a true inclination to participate.
Appalachia's high numbers of membership also demonstrate the same disproportion between males and females as seen in the Halftime retreats. "We definitely notice a difference, and it becomes especially apparent when we put together trip lists," said Paul Chiozzi, head coordinator and A&S '07.
Membership in September reflected consistent patterns from previous years, which showed a high number of freshman and sophomore girls. "This is not necessarily a problem. A high number of women does not take away from our mission," said Chiozzi.
This issue, however, has come up in the past for Appalachia coordinators. One likely cause that Chiozzi cites for this discrepancy is word of mouth. Women are usually more likely to spread news about any organization or program they find interesting. Men, on the other hand, are less inclined to spread such news. Appalachia is trying to address the issue now and develop ways to increase male involvement.
Much like Halftime, 48 Hours, a weekend experience retreat for first year students, has successfully acclimated hundreds of freshmen to college-life. Ethan Sullivan, assistant director for First Year Experience, has also stated that the freshman retreat program has produced similar results to other service organizations on campus. The entire undergraduate University at BC is 47 percent male and 53 percent female; 48 Hours, however, does not even represent this ratio.
"In the past five years, it has been about 40-45 percent male," said Sullivan. "There's a sense of entitlement to males that sometimes they feel that regardless of what they do, they will still get a job. Women believe they have to work harder to level the playing field."
Compared to other national universities, the distribution of males and females at BC is relatively proportional. "It is an issue at colleges everywhere. Most formal programs are not equally represented by males," said Sullivan of the prominent involvement of women in service organization.
Involvement in extracurricular activities may also stem from high school, which created a competitive nature in many females. Like Appalachia and Halftime, 48 Hours administrators are looking for ways to increase student involvement, regardless of gender.
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