Abstract

Existing research suggests that men and women have similar reasons for attending North American seminaries and are influenced strongly by faculty while in school. To increase understanding of the experiences of women and men in seminary, this study used interactive qualitative analysis to discover and compare the main themes of seminary experience for men and women at one Protestant seminary. Study results show men and women differed in their perception of how seminary influenced their sense of calling. One third of women interviewed reported experiences of resistance to their pursuit of ministry as a vocation. Further research is needed to explore the mechanisms that continue to reproduce sexism. The author argues that seminaries need to increase the proportion of women faculty members to promote the flourishing of all students.