Meeting Minutes

I read an academic post recently calling on men to take the meeting minutes, bring the meeting snacks, set up the room for the meeting. In the comments to this post, many academics also called on women to stop doing these tasks - that only by stopping to volunteer for these roles, or by refusing to perform these duties when asked, would traditional gender roles change.

I love taking minutes for meetings. At one point, I was the official Secretary for four different non-profit organizations, in charge of taking meeting minutes for all of them. If a regular meeting-minute-taker is absent, I am the first to put my name on the line for this duty.

And, sometimes, I am asked to take on this role because of stereotypes. One time at church, an older male, who is all other ways lovely, said, "Amy, we need you to take the minutes since you're the only woman on the committee - and we will know men can't take minutes!" I was annoyed at the time he had asked me to perform this duty because of gender - but still dutifully took said minutes.

But I regularly volunteer for this role because I enjoy taking notes. And I feel I am fairly skilled in this area. I am not always the best at contributing ideas on the spot amid heated discussions, but I am fairly adept at documenting issues raised. And I secretly sometimes worry that if someone else did the job, it would not be as strong, so it is better if I do it myself.

And this has me thinking about roles we take on. How do we effect change? Do we even want to effect change in roles we enjoy? Should I give up the role of volunteering for meeting minutes, when I enjoy it, so I do not play into stereotypes?

It is easy for me to over-think such signals. But maybe it really is simple: If you enjoy taking on any duty, regardless of how mundane or undervalued, it is okay to continue taking on this task. If you do not enjoy a particular duty, then stop volunteering and/or agreeing to perform it when asked. And perhaps the world can function smoother if we all can be in our element.