The Graduate and Professional Women's Network met Thursday night to discuss the role of women in politics as part of a biweekly dinner discussion series held in the Women's Center.

Representatives from the Chapel Hill chapter of the American Association of University Women, which promotes equal opportunity in education through grants and scholarships, led the panel and shared their experiences with the group.

The discussion focused on balancing professional and family life and dealing with social bias.

"Where a man is assertive, a woman is a bitch," AAUW representative Mary Paterson said on the discrepancy in behavioral expectations of female and male politicians.

The panel was attended by about 25 staff members, graduate students, administrators and local women from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines. Graduate students from China and Bangladesh lent the discussion an international perspective, and engineering students voiced concerns about women's under-representation in the sciences.

Many women said they were hesitant to get involved in what they perceived as an unethical, male-dominated political system.

"You either have to act masculine, or you have to give in," Paterson said.

Some students said gender socialization teaches women that competing in politics means sacrificing femininity.

Attendees said that although women have recently become more of a presence in many professions including business and law, the trend has not translated into the political realm.

International students noted that women's involvement in politics in the United States is lagging in comparison with other modern countries.

The discussion then shifted to the question of how women can change the system and become more politically involved.

Paterson and AAUW representative Kay White said women need to form solid political opinions about candidates and issues before participating in politics.

If women can establish themselves as an informed political presence, social bias against women politicians may decline, some panelists said.

"Gender socialization needs to change," Paterson said.

Overall, attendees said the panel was successful in highlighting concerns of the graduate and professional women's community and was a valuable networking tool.

"You have to have some belief in your own opinions and your own philosophy and you have to stick with it," Paterson said.

The discussion series is part of a full schedule of GPWN activities designed to provide networking opportunities to female graduate students, administrators, faculty and community members while also encouraging discussion of campus and community issues.

Future events include a panel on gender in sports, a workshop on meditation and a workshop on car maintenance and repair, all co-sponsored by graduate student organizations and the Women's Center.