#hearLDSwomen: Discouraged From Broadcast Journalism at BYU Because of Gender

[image error]I went to BYU and was majoring in broadcast journalism. It was 1996. When I was interviewed by the head of the department, he asked what I wanted to do as a career. When I said reporter, he told me that wasn’t a very good job for a woman. Especially if I wanted a family. He said I could miss out on important family occasions if I had to, say, go out on a breaking news story. I was too shocked and disgusted at the time to say anything. Pretty sure they didn’t tell the men that.

– Lauren Granat LaClare

 

I was thinking about broadcast journalism when I started at BYU and went to an on-campus intro. It was in an auditorium with a big group of freshmen there to learn about broadcast journalism in 2003. The presenters for the department, probably a mix of a couple teachers and assistants, said it was a career that wouldn’t work if you wanted to be a mom: you’d be gone in the mornings or evenings or have to leave at a moment’s notice. I felt all guilty, like I was choosing between the world and what God wanted me to do, so I ended up only considering the obvious backup plans that can work for a mom: teaching and nursing. I have major regrets for not believing I could do anything and pursuing something I felt passionate about.

– Katie

 

Pro tip: Not all women will become mothers. Those who do can manage a career and motherhood, if they choose to. Putting systemic blocks in the way of entire professions, assuming all women will be stay at home mothers, is sexist and unfair.

Click here to read all of the stories in our #hearLDSwomen series. Has anything like this happened to you? Please share in the comments or submit your experience(s) to participate in the series.

“If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.” (Mark 4:23)

 

Photo by David Boca on Unsplash