“As women have entered more and more spaces and fields that have been historically male-dominated, you find there aren’t many considerations that have been made to accommodate women entering those spaces,” said Dina Kobeissi ’24, president of the Harvard Arab’s Women Collective. Kobeissi’s sentiments represent the all-too-common theme that many Harvard women exemplify: females in male-dominated spaces feeling ostracized, minimized, or left without proper recognition.
STEM concentrations, job occupations, clubs, and activities often present imbalanced gender ratios. Though recent strides to reduce this gender disparity have been made, including reducing wage gaps and increasing diverse representation, the loneliness that women may feel when they do not feel understood or respected may lead to frustration, anger, and oftentimes, wanting to leave. This global phenomenon unfortunately appears frequently on campus.
Sophia Fend ’24 did not resign quietly from her Vice President position in the Harvard College Debating Union, or HCDU. In an email sent to the entire organization, Fend announced her departure, explaining how the “deeply rooted sexism, both intentional and not, that characterizes the team environment” has led to “painful and isolating” experiences forcing her resignation.
In an interview with the Independent, Fend pinpointed her understanding of the problems associated with such a male-dominated activity—including the development of a congratulatory culture only extended to men, leniency not extended to female leadership, and the eventual departure of women from the team.
“There’s a culture that sort of props up the men and gives them a lot more social clout,” she noted, continuing that the lack of respect she experienced did not improve, despite moving up the ranks within the organization. “When women are in leadership positions…there’s a much higher bar and expectation for what you should be doing,” she added.
“When you have these kinds of environments that are so male-dominated, it becomes even harder to say no and not be a people-pleaser. Because when you do say ‘no,’ frequently, there’s a lot more hostility.” Remarking on her own experience, Fend recalled a health emergency that made her unable to fulfill an assigned task. In return, her concern was responded to without leniency in fulfilling all pre-set duties. “The sheer lack of professionalism that I was met with, from my peers, and lack of respect, in those instances was, in my opinion…pretty outrageous.”
Fend noted that her negative experiences are not at all unique to the HCDU, as seen by the collective experiences of women participating and leading fields without a female presence, but endemic to competitive male-dominated activities on campus. “Debate spaces, but also…all spaces, tend to be so male-dominated, especially at competitive institutions like Harvard. I don’t think that [the HCDU] is the only one that has these problems.” Instead, she hopes to broaden the conversation and welcome more free discourse with her email. “There’s a huge amount of importance for young women in actually hearing this when they experience it. There are lessons that can be learned from what was seen on the HCDU, and I’m sure it occurs in other clubs.”
The experiences felt by women in this team, including women senior to Fend who left for similar reasons, and broadly amongst women in male-dominated organizations, often leads to an unfortunate self-fulfilling cycle: women eventually leave, spaces continue to lack female voices, and new women who join are met with the same problems. Fend observed this phenomenon happening within the HCDU. “They lose their women as they age, because people get fed up, and they get pushed out.” Fend noted that she had to stop the female debate mentorship programs when she left her position. She continued, “When women leave, it makes it harder for other women to band together, particularly younger women. And it makes it harder to establish these support systems.”
Maya Dummett ’26, a Computer Science concentrator and Director of Community for the Harvard Computer Society, echoed Fend’s understanding of women leaving the spaces they are in. While Dummett herself has always had welcoming and comfortable experiences in CS, she recognizes the rarity in her circumstances. “When I came to the College and encountered people whose experiences in CS spaces were plagued with feelings of inadequacy or who faced sexism, racism, or other forms of discrimination, it left me thinking about how many incredible people might be leaving CS on the basis of those experiences.”
Dummett explained that due to computer science’s often high barriers to access, it is important to have the proper support and tools necessary to succeed. Yet many at Harvard have faced pushback. “At the College, there are a number of people really studying computer science for the first time… Some have been told that they do not belong, and others have faced the usual difficulty in navigating the mystery that a CS education can be.” This experience is a hardship for all but is an added burden to women, who already face discrimination and doubt.
Reform is difficult. Although male-dominated clubs and fields of studies should undertake measures to ensure that women and gender minorities feel included and respected, female-dominated spaces are equally important in simultaneously building that community that such male-dominated spheres lack.
Kobeissi started the Arab Women’s Collective for this reason; to give female Arab students, alumni, and future admits a place where they can feel further accepted and understood. “I started to really see the club’s potential impact on an Arab girl’s experience at Harvard in making her feel supported and like she has big sisters here for her. I also realized I didn’t know Harvard Arab women who had graduated from Harvard, and I wanted to start building that alumni network for us because it can be so helpful to have connections with women in fields you’re interested in who can tell you about their experience and who can empower you to realize you can achieve so much.”
Dummett is involved in groups such as Girls who Code and Kode with Klossy, providing her a space to learn from other female coders and empower and inspire the next generation. “Programs such as Kode With Klossy and Girls Who Code are intentionally creating space for young girls and marginalized genders to cultivate an interest in CS that is protected from many of the barriers that work to exclude them from CS—particularly sexism and other forms of discrimination, that often happen in CS spaces outside of these programs,” Dummet said. She also explained how the groups allowed her to feel comfortable asking questions that could be “perceived as incompetency” by her male peers.
Harvard should continue to uplift these female spaces; to avoid perpetuating the cycle that Fend experienced, and to allow Kobeissi, Dummett, and other women at Harvard to support and be there for each other in fields and spaces where they are in the minority. When asked why these are important, Kobeissi cited shared experiences as a reason to have these forums for women to go to. “A lot of the time you might think you’re alone in certain struggles you face, but you find that an entire community of people has experienced the same thing. It’s important to feel like you’re not alone, and it’s also important to be able to mobilize yourselves to counter societal and political injustices you face.”
Katy Lin ’26 (katylin@college.harvard.edu) and Layla Chaaraoui ’26 (laylachaaraoui@college.harvard.edu) write Forum for the Independent.