Predictors of Change in Feminist Activism Through Women’s and Gender Studies

Abstract

Predictors of change in feminist activism were studied in a group of 519 women and 143 men enrolled in 48 women's and gender studies (WGS) classes on six college campuses in a large Midwestern urban area. Over the semester-long classes, students increased their feminist activist behaviors and intention to engage in future activism. Although women had greater activist behaviors and intentions than men, increases were similar for women and men across time. African American and Euro American students increased to a similar extent and more so than Asian American students. Predictors of change included student initial gender attitudes, changes in attitudes over time, and feelings of empowerment gained from the class. Feelings of distress and anger were unrelated to activism. Both awareness of sexism and gender egalitarianism were predictive of changes in activist intentions, whereas only awareness of sexism predicted changes in activist behaviors. Empowerment mediated the relation between attitudes and activism. Pedagogical and methodological implications are discussed.

Perceiving Allies from the Perspective of Non-Dominant Group Members: Comparisons to Friends and Activists

“…In this way, the Activist condition employed a conceptualization used in activism research (Stake, 2007;Szymanski, 2012). After removing the eight participants who indicated that they could not think of a specific White activist, the Activist condition included 37 participants.…”

“…Activism is conceived as intentional action designed to promote social and/or political change (Stake, 2007;Szymanski, 2003). Particularly given the intractable, systematic nature of various systems of inequality in many societies, activism can include formal, confrontational forms, such as demonstrations, rallies, boycotts, or letter-writing campaigns (Montgomery & Stewart, 2012;Szymanski, 2004), as well as informal, non-confrontational activism, including mentoring, discussing racial bias with others, or becoming educated about discriminatory situations (Szymanski, 2012).…”

Older and Younger Adults’ Attitudes Toward Feminism: The Influence of Religiosity, Political Orientation, Gender, Education, and Family

“…Or perhaps the nature of college life offers an insular environment in which students begin to question and adopt new views from those in their family upbringing. A vast amount of research has been conducted on the liberalizing effect of college courses and women's studies classes in particular (e.g., Aronson 2003;Bryant 2003;Stake 2007). Using the life course perspective as a model to understand this dynamic, perhaps it is this intersection between unique individual experiences (e.g., college experiences, gender, peers) and broader societal events (e.g., political climate, women in the news) that contributes to the lack of family influence seen.…”

Racist Events and Individual Coping Styles as Predictors of African American Activism

“…Surprisingly, very little research has focused on African American person's engagement in collective responses to oppression. However, research examining the links between sexism and feminist activism has been conducted (cf., Duncan, 1999;Liss, Crawford, & Popp, 2004;Stake, 2007;Szymanski & Owens, 2009;Yoder, Tobias, & Snell, 2011), underscoring the importance of activism as a variable of study. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which African American persons are involved in a range of African American activism activities and to investigate variables that may predict involvement in African American activism.…”