Equality, Extra Sharp
Stephanie Stanczyk (BSBA’14) on her big idea: ending gender inequality
Stephanie Stanczyk spent the summer of 2010 preparing for her first year at BU—and running stick cheese production lines at a dairy factory in her home state of Wisconsin. There, she met single mothers and grandmothers working tiring double shifts. Hearing their stories reminded Stanczyk that the fight for a more equal future for women—one that might include on-site day care centers, for example—was far from over.
That time on the factory floor may have given her an important outlook on gender inequality, but it would take three years for Stanczyk, an accounting and finance major, to find an effective way to ready herself and others for the fight. In September 2013—feeling empowered by the call for more women leaders in Sheryl Sandberg’s bestseller Lean In—she and roommate Katherine Depardieu (BSBA’14) launched RISE, a monthly book club that tackles issues of gender in business and beyond.
Over coffee and homemade pastries, the group of about 30, comprising students, faculty, and staff—female and male—has spirited debates on gender stereotypes, discrimination, obstacles, and how to prepare for them in the workplace. Starting points have been titles like Malala Yousafzai’s I Am Malala and Debora Spar’s Wonder Women. Stanczyk stresses that preparation, not victimization, is the focus of RISE.
“I want the club to raise awareness that gender inequality is still an issue,” she says of the group, named for its morning meetings, as well as its members’ careers. “We need to reflect on how to move forward.”
With a post-graduation job lined up at PwC, Stanczyk won’t be returning to stick cheese this summer, but the lessons she learned in the factory—and in RISE—won’t melt away anytime soon.
