After personally experiencing gender inequality in the workplace, Kate Shipley decided to shed light on the issue by creating a new leadership series on campus that focuses on women.

Mackenzie Link sees her involvement in this series as a small but necessary step towards change after battling with stereotypes in school.

The two have come together through Student Activity Involvement and Leadership (SAIL) to build the Point Women Leadership Series on campus in hopes to educate and help young people survive in a patriarchal society.

“We’ve been taught as females that it’s okay if we don’t speak up, it’s okay to hold ourselves back and it’s okay that some man is asking for something that we want and we’re not asking for it – and those things aren’t okay,” said Link, Junior business management major and SAIL office employee.

The series is a string of four sessions that build upon each other and present 19 members a chance to gain insight on the reality of stereotypes through a gendered lens.

The first two sessions have focused on perceptions and decision making while the last two sessions include a discussion on social service and a TED talk-inspired panel of guest presentations. Local business women and Point Park alumni will be in the third session titled ‘Women Like You’ Nov. 4, to speak about succeeding in a male dominated workplace followed by a question and answer panel.

Shipley is currently the assistant coordinator of SAIL and the sole reason for the introduction of this series. She earned her Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from The Ohio State University (OSU) and worked as an instructor for an English Composition class, where they focused on themes like politics and athletics.

At OSU, she noticed male students treated women teachers differently than male teachers.

“I had one, great and usually respectful, student make a joke about how he bet I’d look good with a gun on my hip,” Shipley said.

Looking back on it now, she thinks of that moment as a learning opportunity and wishes that she took the chance to say something not just for him, but the whole class.

“There’s a difference between teaching women what you should do about it and then being in that situation and having to decide for your person what to do,” Shipley said.

From interactions like those, Shipley has seen the reality of gender connotations and had been sharing her knowledge when the opportunities arise. The idea for the series itself sprouted from one of those opportunities in the spring.

Shipley realized that Point Park students needed this type of seminar. The amount of interest the program gained was proof of that.

“I thought it was something that we needed but I did not expect people to be coming up to me about it on the sidewalk or sending me emails about it,” Shipley said.

Preparing for the series has been a whirlwind of research and exposure to facts and opinions on this topic for Shipley. She used ideas from books to paint the picture of what the world is like from a female perspective. Books such as ‘Knowing Your Value’ by Mika Brzezinski and ‘Lean In’ by Sheryl Sandberg which argue the differences between a male and female experience in the work place were used in the framework of the series.

The first meeting supplied a space for the participants to receive information and ground work from all of her research. The third session is set to bring leaders in the community using the TED talk platform.

For Link, this issue has been something she’s seen affecting her performance in the classroom. She finds herself undermining her abilities due to the societal dynamics of today.

“Men don’t have these extra thoughts of ‘am I smart enough to make this comment’ because they don’t have to worry about these stereotypes, threats and ideas where women do,” Link said.

Shipley brought the idea to Link and became the assistant on the project. Link made sure the material was presented in a relatable way to college students.

Link also reached out to a pharmacist as well as a senior analyst at PNC Bank to speak. The two founded a dance company in Pittsburgh called Exhalations Dance Theatre.

“It’s beneficial for students to hear from young, inspirational women who have determination to do what they want and still have these extremely successful,” Link said.

Brad Kovalcik, the coordinator of SAIL, was responsible for approving the project and finding funding within his resources on campus. Kovalcik has been working in student affairs, generally a field dominated by women, so he has never personally experienced the inequality firsthand, however, he said his wife shares these experiences.

“My wife who works in engineering has gone through this, and she knows other women at the company that have had struggles with not being taken as seriously or not receiving the same amount of respect from older members of the company that they show to men in the same position,” Kovalcik said.

It is important for him that college students receive this information before they enter their fields and face this.

“Anything you can do to empower a person will eventually work its way down to others, and even though there may only be about 19 women in this program they all have friends that they’ll talk to about this and they can add to discussions in the classroom which helps to educate the community as a whole,” Kovalcik said.

The third session is scheduled at 7 p.m. Nov. 4 and the last session, titled “Social Justice & Service”, will take place at 5 p.m. Nov. 11, both in Lawrence Hall 200. While they are currently closed off, there is a PointSync Portal where members will be posting recourses like research and books that anyone can join.