Gender and Student Reception of a Seminary's Dominant Messages

Abstract

Theological schools seek to educate both women and men to serve the church and promote the study of religion. This education involves constant messaging through multiple channels. This article explores the central messages received by theological students at one free-standing Presbyterian seminary in the United States. Women commonly reported two messages, a message about community (relationships between students) and a message about professional training for ministry. By contrast, men commonly reported only the message about professional training. Both of these messages were part of the school's statement of purpose. The author interprets these findings in terms of communication theory. Specifically, the research site effectively reproduced its institutional culture. Socialized gender differences prior to enrollment in seminary influenced the reception and decoding of the school's messages. The author calls for more research about the experience of women in seminary and about the success of schools in communicating messages to all parts of their student body. The findings of this study suggest that schools should systematically monitor how they communicate to discover barriers to the reception of important messages.