The Express spoke to numerous female sources about the topic of this story, under the basis of anonymity to not attract attention to themselves or deter the message of this story.

When this year’s Stallion of the Year nominees were announced, there was no doubt that each nominee was well deserving of the honor. That does not negate the fact that one glaring detail stood out immediately: every nominee was male.

This is the first occurrence in SJHHS history that the nominees are all of a single gender. At a school with an extremely high-achieving senior class of male and female students, the absence of female nominees opens a conversation about what equality means for female students in the education system, and how important it is for female students to be uplifted alongside their male peers.

The lack of female nominees clearly is not due to a lack of female achievement. At SJHHS, many prestigious organizations, programs, and groups are led by a female president, such as ASB, CSF, NHS, Virtual Enterprise, and even the senior class. There is certainly no lack of strong female leaders on campus, fully embodying what it means to “Ride for the Brand.”

“We have a lot of girls [at San Juan] that are just really doing amazing things in their community. And I know this impact is recognized in various programs at San Juan hills, you have ASB, you have virtual enterprise, you have theater, you have even extracurriculars and sports. I think there’s a lot of achievements and success that girls have been having,” said the first anonymous student.

This high level of achievement among female stallions only furthers the disappointment and confusion at the lack of female representation among the nominees for stallion of the year.

“I was frustrated. I thought that it wasn’t representative of our student body. I know we have a lot of male high achieving students, but we also have a lot of high achieving female students. So I thought even if the female wasn’t to win, it’s not representative of the school,” said the second anonymous student.

It is also important to note that this frustration is not stemming from the notion that males are not equally deserving of the recognition they have earned for their hard work and dedication, but rather a disparity between the level of recognition amongst male and female students, for achievements that are equally worthy of praise.

“I think that they all deserved it and they all worked for it, but I think that it’s disappointing, if anything, that there was no female recognition, because I know for a fact that there are a lot of women in our grade that would have also deserved it,” said the third anonymous student

While there is discussion of altering nomination processes in future years to ensure inclusivity is a factor in the decision, this should not become a discussion of maintaining a specific quota of each gender of nominees, or having to intentionally encourage the nomination of individuals based on their gender. Especially when women on campus have already more than earned a place at the table based on their merit, regardless of their gender.

“I feel like it shouldn’t be, ‘Oh, we need to place equity in order to have these female spotlights, or in opposite cases, in order to have male spotlights’; I feel like stallion of the year, the purpose of it is to really just highlight all that San Juan has to offer, and I don’t think it should become a quota that has to be met for nominees,” said the first anonymous student.

This is instead a matter of recognizing bias where and if it exists in certain settings. Studies have shown that oftentimes teachers do exhibit a gender bias, that has been thought to have been a contributing factor to the gender gap in stem fields.

In an article entitled “Teacher gender biases exist and have long- term effects,” research finds gender bias in the classroom to be correlated to attendance rates and enrollment in a university.

“Teacher gender biases in early high school have long-term effects on the likelihood of enrolling in a postsecondary institution and the quality of enrolled university degree,” said authors Rigissa Megalokonomou and Victor Lavy.

The way males and females experience bias within the education system truly does have an impact on their ability to succeed, let alone their ability to be recognized when they do succeed. However, some students also attribute bias not only to gender, but to outward expressions of success.

“I do feel that in the past, I’ve definitely been underestimated in an academic setting. People kind of just overlook you, and they think just because you’re not as maybe flashy about grades, or participating, you know, or announcing test scores, that you’re not as high achieving as some other people,” said the third anonymous student.

It is clear that many factors may have played a role in nominations, from outward expressions of achievement to the way success is perceived and recognized on campus. However, student perspectives clearly reveal that female achievement is not lacking, rather, at times, it can be less visible within our systems of recognition.

Bias in education is not always overt. Subtle differences in teacher perceptions can shape outcomes that aren’t always immediately apparent, but evidently, it can shape a disparity in how females are recognized for their achievements.

Conclusively, this year’s nominations have raised the question: if the purpose of Stallion of the Year is to represent what it means to be a stallion, what criteria is truly being prioritized? Is recognition based purely on merit, or does visibility, personality, and bias play a role?

One thing is for certain: it is impossible to embody what it means to be a stallion without female recognition, as well as male. Our student body is a beautiful culmination of hardworking and interesting individuals who each embody what it means to be a stallion in their own way.

And we cannot discuss the word “stallion” without recognizing that the female students at this school are also stallions; no matter who was nominated, the females of the class of 2026 who are leading the way, not only academically, but in their communities, are making lasting impacts that SJHHS will remember for years to come.