Three national studies focused on media and gender recently revealed details about the dearth of women's public voices. The Project for Excellence in Journalism found that men are relied upon as sources in the news twice as often as women. In a survey of major metropolitan daily newspapers, Editor & Publisher reported that women make up less than 20% of the writers of columns and op-eds. A third study, conducted by the White House Project, found that that women are featured as commentators on television's Sunday morning talk shows only 10% of the time. When news focuses on international issues, the White House Project reported, the percentage is even lower.

While the statistics indicate that women's voices are often missing from public debate, the numbers also shed light on profound social attitudes with far-reaching consequences. The White House Project study suggests that women's leadership authority is undermined by gender disparity in news coverage. The report states that "studies show that the lack of public confidence in women's leadership abilities stems in large part from rarely seeing women in leadership roles." Clark University Professor Cynthia Enloe writes that the media reflect a "culture of expertise" which too often equates men with information, knowledge and opinion. Within such a culture, Enloe argues, women are largely invisible.

This project seeks to bring together students, faculty and staff from Mount Holyoke, Smith, Wellesley, Bryn Mawr, and Barnard to encourage women's public voices.

Through the use of blogs, podcasting, opinion columns, narrative story-telling and other forms of technology and media, we hope to encourage undergraduate women to develop their public voices as powerful tools of expression and activism.

The Director of the Women's Public Voices Project, Martha Ackmann, may be reached via email at mackmann@mtholyoke.edu.