Abstract
Statement of Problem
Women’s Resource Centers (WRC) were born out of women’s resistance and activism to confront the exclusion of women in higher education combat systemic inequity. According to the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (2018), “sexism persists in North American colleges and universities, revealing itself in institutional structures, policies, and practices, as well as campus cultures that privilege some and disadvantage others” (p. 2).
Significantly, WRCs have evolved into community spaces and havens for women and marginalized identities on college campuses. Center spaces serve as counter spaces to the societal pressure of the patriarchy, the existing forms of inequity faced by women, and to provide services and activities that foster connectedness to feminist theoretical frameworks. With reproductive rights being challenged, existing and continuing pay gaps growing, and systemic oppression of women thriving, spaces like Women’s Resource Centers must be highlighted throughout college campuses. Also, the WRC’s educational events and programs foster awareness, and raise consciousness and understanding of issues facing women and people of all genders.
Awareness and understanding of how vital WRCs, are crucial steps toward a more equitable and socially just society, as well as a safer and inclusive campus environment. Bengiveno (2000) claims that WRCs “development involves an awareness of the inequality in society, and an autonomous definition of goals and strategies for change through the process, a sense of sisterhood develops” (p. 2). For the continued relevancy of the WRCs on campus, the value and importance of these spaces must be regarded as of high importance to the university. This means that the WRC needs to be financially supported and resourced. The more significant issue is the endangered sense of urgency of the importance of these spaces and the continued marginalization of centers that prioritize women-identified students as non-essential to the campus culture. The problem of WRC being defunded and pushed to obscurity is reflected in the continued departure of increased investment as well as interest in supporting centers on campus.
For many students, the WRC represents a space where transformational healing can occur. Research is needed to examine the success of staffed centers. Research of theses spaces is an integral piece in the advancement of spaces that provide such an essential piece to student affairs. Future growth requires invested stakeholders who want to see the WRC reach sustainable heights. At the basic level, centers provide an oasis for students who have been historically marginalized to find safety, a haven, and a place free from harm. A part of being considered relevant is to have a heightened presence on institutional websites.
Sources of Data
Data was examined from the 23 California State University (CSU) websites that had existing Women’s Resource Centers. The researcher constructed a rubric (Table 2) with 11 topic-specific questions, each question having a specific search criterion. The researcher used a four-point scale to score each CSU campus website. The researcher utilized quantitative and qualitative methodology and provided a comprehensive content analysis of the online data collected.
Conclusions Reached
Quantitative and qualitative methodology provided the researcher with the necessary tools to critically analyze the data collected from each of the 23 CSU’s websites. Using the rubric (Table 2) the researcher thoroughly assessed and scored each CSU’s website. The researcher found that the California State University system did not always provide online access to women’s resource center websites, provided limited content, and no representation of center spaces where centers no longer exist.