Although some women do run for elected office, many students choose less visible jobs behind the scenes, appointive posts, or the less prominent elective offices. However, some women who have expressed interest in more prominent posts were actively discouraged by other students, especially men. Some women (and men) tell us that they doubt the efficacy or worth of some of the traditional campus organizations, seeing them primarily as sites for resume-building or paper-shuffling; they prefer activities where they can “actually get something done.” Yet others may have a negative image of leadership and prefer to be involved in more low-key ways. As . . . some women have been one student put it in a response to dissuaded from running for a question on our website, “many elective office, especially a students view leadership as bosspresidency, because they have ing people around, which turns gotten the message from peers many people away from leaderthat such posts should be held ship positions.” Some women (and by men. some men, of course) remark that they are skeptical about “politics” in the sense of maneuvering and competing strategies and prefer activities in which they can readily see the impact of their work. Others are worried about the personal exposure of a post such as president of an eating club, in terms of liability and other potential costs. Some students are disinclined to put themselves forward for elective office because of the visibility of a campaign—having their posters plastered around campus, knocking on dorm-room doors. This is especially true for first-year women who are still finding their way around campus, uncertain about how to fit into the Princeton culture, and diffident about such publicity. However, some women have been dissuaded from running for elective office, especially a presidency, because they have gotten the message from peers that such posts should be held by men. Several alumnae and students told us that they had sought to run for president of an organization and were pressured to run for vice president or social chair instead, on the grounds that these posts are more suitable for women.
86 Report on Undergraduate Women’s Leadership