Female leaders on campus say women still aren’t holding as many leadership positions as men. The Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics is co-sponsoring a lecture series, starting tonight to help address the issue.

As part of the “Advancing Women’s Leadership” lecture series, Roxanne Conlin, a prominent Des Moines attorney, will give a speech addressing women’s experiences in leadership.

Dianne Bystrom, director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics, said Iowa State still has work to do to balance the female representation in faculty and executive leadership roles.

“We’ve made some progress over the last few years, but it’s an elusive goal,” Bystrom said.

Out of eight college deans, Iowa State currently employs only two females – Catherine Woteki in the College of Agriculture, who is acting in an interim capacity, and Cheryl Achterberg in the College of Human Sciences.

“We need to do better as far as deans are concerned,” Bystrom said.

She said she would like more aggressive search processes to attract women to leadership roles and better identify candidates.

“We also need to do a better job of selling Iowa State to women in these positions so we can retain them longer,” she said. Bystrom said the “Advancing Women’s Leadership” lecture series tries to bring a variety of women leaders to Iowa State, and Conlin’s extensive experience, both in law and politics, makes her an excellent choice for the series.

“For students, we want our lectures to connect the study of leadership with the more practical, real-life side of leadership,” she said. “I hope students take her experiences and apply that to their own lives and improve their own leadership abilities.”

Conlin, one of the first two women ever to be named a United States Attorney and the 1982 Democratic nominee for Iowa governor, will deliver her speech, titled “My Clients, My Heroes,” detailing the struggles of several people she represented in court.

“In my speech, I just talk about my clients,” Conlin said. “It’s a speech about the efficacy of individual action.”

She said she wants students to understand that one person can make a positive difference even against seemingly impossible odds.

“I’m going to talk about women who have sustained serious injury or wrong and fought back against enormous institutions,” she said.

She said all of the clients she will discuss are women, but anyone can learn something from her message.

“It’s a speech not just for women or for students, but for a general audience,” she said. “We all like stories about people who do the right thing in the face of huge obstacles.”

Angela Groh, president of the Government of the Student Body, said, from the student perspective, Iowa State offers everyone equal opportunities, regardless of gender.

“I think as far as students go, there’s equal opportunities for men and women,” she said. “Anyone can get involved with something and make a difference.”

Groh said the more than 700 clubs and student organizations at Iowa State offer the bulk of leadership opportunities for students.

“Iowa State is also one of the top schools in the nation in community service and participation,” she said. “So there’s plenty that students, both men and women, can do.”

Groh did voice concern, however, that women are not represented equally in the arenas of politics and industry.

“Something that needs to be improved is the proportion of women in Congress and state legislatures around the country,” she said.

Conlin’s lecture will be held at 8 p.m. Thursday in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union.