Power, Access, and Policy: Reflections on the Women’s Center Internship Program

Abstract

Bridging problem-based learning approaches (Duch et al. in The Power of Problem-based Learning: A Practical “How To” for Teaching Undergraduate Courses in Any Discipline. Stylus Publishing, Sterling, VA, 2001) with feminist theory and praxis (Kark et al. in Journal of Management Education 40:293–320, 2016), this chapter explores my personal experiences facilitating experiential learning opportunities for students through a year-long internship program in the Women’s Center. The for-academic credit, policy-focused internship centers on critically analyzing the university’s existing policies and practices that may inhibit gender equity. While the Women’s Center—and similarly situated identity centers—function in part to disrupt institutional practices and policies (Patton in Contested Issues in Student Affairs: Diverse Perspectives and Respectful Dialogue. Stylus Publishing, Sterling, VA, pp. 255–260, 2011), its work is also embedded within patriarchal institutions and must confront the contradictory and paradoxical demands of functioning both with and against these structures while also providing learning opportunities for students. In the design and execution of this internship program, I challenge traditional notions of power and access by allowing undergraduates the opportunity to pull back the curtain and explore the messy reality of institutional life. As a result, I seek to disrupt norms around the student experience—one typically framed as protected by and separate from institutional authority and decision-making—to allow students to become agents of change.