BY SARAH CAMP AND KARALEE SURFACE
Saying that the COVID-19 pandemic “exposed” inequities faced by women in the workforce is misguided at best, willfully harmful at worst. It is akin to suggesting that the murder of George Floyd “exposed” police brutality. Sure, some may not have seen or experienced these things firsthand, and yet they still happen right in the open. The reality, especially for women and their allies fighting for women’s rights, is that this pandemic has merely highlighted these disparities for those who do not experience them. Pre-pandemic women lived them every day, despite a lack of recognition from society at-large.
Still, this recent acknowledgement of these gender inequities (for some of the supporting data, see here, here, and here) provides an opportunity for institutions of all sorts to reassess their policies and make them more equitable.
At Jesuit institutions, this means it is time to practice what we preach and to care for the women who, day in and day out, keep these institutions running. It means applying tenets of cura personalis and “people for and with others” in ways that substantively support those who statistically are more likely to bear the brunt of unpaid labor both at home and in the workplace.
Our Roots Say That We’re Sisters (2020) is a mural on Marquette University’s campus designed by artist Mauricio Ramirez. It came about as part of an extensive process in which students, faculty, and staff participated.
With all this in mind, here are some concrete actions Jesuit institutions can take to produce change:
Institutions should recruit more women to leadership roles and support them in these roles. As Marquette biology scientist and professor Rosemary Stuart puts it, "Women do not just need to be passed the mic or allowed in the room, they need to be given the power and authority to truly lead." Consequently, it is imperative that Jesuit institutions actively welcome more women into the full array of leadership roles — trustee, president, vice president, dean, department head, and beyond. This means ensuring that women are actively invited to move beyond their disproportionately high representation in leadership work that advances institutional priorities but is often not credited as career-building contributions — e.g., leadership on committees, researching and writing institutional reports, writing letters of recommendations. Further, it means that our institutions should provide equitable support, financially and otherwise, for women.
Institutions should commit to pay equity. Many institutions have ample data that detail gender-based pay inequity, but they still fail to take tangible actions to fix the underlying problem. In addition to ensuring equity in salaries, institutions should also review all policies to identify where pay inequality and inequity is institutionally entrenched, and they should subsequently adopt corrective policies. An example: Develop a policy that allows for caregiving stipends and considerations to be included for conference/event attendees, recognizing that child and elder care responsibilities disproportionately fall on women.
All leaders should take responsibility for advancing a culture of inclusion and accountability. Starting at the executive levels of our institutions, all leaders at Jesuit institutions should be trained to cultivate a more inclusive culture and should be held accountable for the reality in their specific areas of responsibility (colleges, divisions, departments, offices). This means that these leaders should speak and act in ways that purposefully challenge systemic discrimination against women. It also means that they should sponsor and reward healthy, healing initiatives to advance equity and inclusion for women. Finally, it means that leaders should believe women when they speak about their experiences.
Institutions should require uniform, up-to-date Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) education for all employees. Many Jesuit institutions already require such education, but it’s time for all of our institutions to require every employee to be schooled in DEI and to invite everyone to actively co-conspire for a life of growth in equity and inclusion for women. Of course, the benefits of this education cannot be achieved without a firm foundation of diversity and safety on campus. Further, since best practices for DEI are constantly changing, institutional programs should be dynamic and reflect ongoing development.
Live out the Ignatian motto, "Go forth and set the world on fire!" Legend has it that St. Ignatius Loyola used this phrase to send off his beloved friend, St. Francis Xavier. As for Ignatius, so for us today the notion of setting the world on fire shouldn’t be a catchy slogan, but a motto to be lived. When it comes to supporting women, Jesuit institutions should choose to adopt policies that will have an impact not just inside the workplace, but well beyond it. Will we step up to lead by an example that will have an ongoing impact for generations to come?
In pandemic time, it’s become common for us to say that “we live in a unique moment.” Yet inasmuch as women remain overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated, things are not all that different from what they were before. What’s becoming different now is that people in power cannot say they don’t know about the inequities women experience. Nor, given what living up to our Jesuit mission requires, can leaders at Jesuit institutions say they simply don’t care about these inequities.
The truth is, our Jesuit mission provides the moral resources we need. What our institutions must cultivate now is the will to make necessary change.
We invite you to check out these resources curated by the Institute for Women’s Leadership at Marquette University.
Sarah Camp is coordinator at Marquette University’s Institute for Women’s Leadership. Karalee Surface is coordinator at Marquette’s Women’s Innovation Network.