Chapter 5 Interview

For this weeks blog, I decided to interview Meg Gulick.  She is a Graduate Administrative Associate and was also a leader for FGBLC. Here it is...

1) Q: Throughout your leadership experiences, have you felt like stereotypical gender roles have impacted the assignments or jobs you were given, or the way people treated you in general?

A: “Yes.  In 4-H all of the guys were asked to do all the heavy lifting, while all of the girls were asked to get food ready.  Even in the OSU Marching Band.  The guys were always asked to load the instruments into the buses while the girls were asked to pack coolers and get snack ready for the trips.  I would have much rather done some of the heavy lifting than make food.”

W.I.T. (What I think): I can’t really say that her answer surprised me.  It’s becoming more and more common for people to defy their stereotypical gender roles.  This will have a lot of impact on how I will lead my organizations in the future.

2) Q: Whenever you succeed at completing the task that you have been working on, do you credit your success to internal or external factors?  (Internal= being prepared and capable.  External= Luck and being in the right place at the right time)

A: “I would like to say that I credit internal factors because I was prepared. However I would probably say that “we” succeeded instead of just “I” succeeded.”

W.I.T.:  After Meg’s answer to the first question, her answer to the second question didn’t really surprise me.  According to our book (pg 156), usually men are the ones to credit their success to internal factors.  So the fact that Meg’s answer continues to defy stereotypical norms was somewhat expected.

3) Q: Whenever you fail at completing the task that you have been working on, do you credit your failures to internal or external factors? (Internal= not being prepared, having the right skills or enough time.  External= fate, other’s not doing their part, or bad luck)

A: “I would probably say that I would blame internal factors.  I may say that, “we as a group failed, and here’s what my part in the failure was””

W.I.T.:  This answer was not what I was expecting.  Based on her two previous answers, I was expecting Meg to defy the stereotypical gender norms once again.   However, looking back in detail to Meg’s previous answers, it is not surprising that she would say “we” instead of “I” again.

4) Q: Do you feel that there has been a lot of cultural diversity in your leadership experiences?

A: “Not as much as I would have liked.   I seemed to just be in organizations that attracted a lot of the same people.”

W.I.T.: I asked this question because of a discussion in last weeks class on increasing foreign student involvement in leadership courses and positions.  I really just wanted to know how much interaction she has had with foreign students.

5) Q: In a group that is culturally diverse, how would you try and make everyone feel included?

A: “I would try and make sure that people in the group saw different aspects to problem or task, that way they can better understand how other people may be viewing a situation.”

W.I.T.: I really like Meg’s answer here.  I think it’s a very obvious answer, but it’s not all that easy to actually do.  Being objective and able to view other perspectives is something that I will continually try and work on in my future.

6) Q: Do you feel that you will become a better leader once you have learned how to make people of different cultures feel included?

A: “Yes”

W.I.T.: There’s not much for me to say about this answer.  I already expected a “yes” answer. 

7) Q: How do you make an international student feel welcome in your group?

A: “Since I didn’t have many international students in my organizations, I was always trying to get international students to join.  Learning how to effectively market your organization to get foreign students interested is crucial.  I think that if you put a lot of effort into marketing your organization, and you are making that effort to invite them in, then you will already know how to make them feel welcome in your group.”

W.I.T.: I like this answer because Meg talks about a bigger picture.  Instead of trying to solve issues as they are presented to you, she suggests that if you purposely try and recruit foreign students, then you may develop a natural ability to make them feel welcomed.

8) Q: How do you overcome the differences in understanding that an international culture may have?

A: “I think that if you don’t just assume international students are going to know everything about American Culture, and you take time to explain things, then you will start to really understand international culture and the difficulties that international students face when being in a foreign country. Once you have an understanding of foreign culture, then you will begin to overcome the differences between your culture and theirs.”

“For example, we just assume everyone (foreign or not) knows how to use a crosswalk.  However, the other day I watched a foreign student stand at a crosswalk for over twenty minutes.  Finally, I went and asked them what was wrong, and they said that they didn’t know how to use a crosswalk.”

W.I.T. Meg’s answer here really opened my eyes.  I already knew that most foreign students aren’t completely knowledgeable about our culture; I just never thought it would be over something as small as a crosswalk.  Definitely makes you think about all of the other small things in American culture that they may not know about.

9) Q:  How do you think an international student feels when they come over to the U.S.? 

A: “Well if I were to go over to a foreign country, not knowing anyone, I would probably feel lonely.  Definitely confused and maybe even a little vigilant.”

W.I.T.: I asked this question because I feel that being able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes can really help in understanding that person. Knowing what they person feels may be a great way to make them feel included or welcome in an organization.