Women in academia experience inequality and inequity. For example, women take on greater teaching loads and have more advisees. This impacts their ability to perform the same amount of research as men. The pandemic is only making the barriers that women face more substantial. The obstacles include the difference in salary and inequity in teaching, service, and research.

Inequity and inequality in academia

Equity is achieved when groups are given a certain number(potentially different) of resources such that all groups produce equal results. However, "equality" is achieved when all groups are given the same number of resources. 


State University of New York at Stony Brook

The pandemic has caused shifts in household labor or childcare that have increased faculty and students' mental health needs and reduced faculty and students' time for academic work. The pandemic exemplifies the privilege that some people possess(access to mental healthcare and financial security) and the inequalities in academia. Additionally, the pandemic has caused an increase in biased decision-making, which hinders the efforts for equity. Consequently, women in academia will be negatively impacted. Hence, there is a need for decisions to be made that will help women maintain their positions in academia.

Effects of COVID-19 on women in academia

Malisch, Jessica L., et al. “Opinion: In the Wake of COVID-19, Academia Needs New Solutions to Ensure Gender Equity.” PNAS, National Academy of Sciences, 7 July 2020, www.pnas.org/content/117/27/15378. 

In the wake of COVID-19, academia needs new solution to ensure gender equity

Equity/equality

Because of the pandemic and inequity in salaries, women in academia, especially women of color, are likely to be impacted by financial stressors. Academic institutions are also making cuts in retirement accounts, which will only exacerbate the disparities in lifetime earnings for women. Therefore, Academic institutions should inquire if the financial burden of the pandemic disproportionately impacts women.

The financial burden of the pandemic on women in academia

The pandemic is creating an even more significant gap between men and women when it comes to research. Women experience bias when it comes to peer review, grant review panels; women have to be perceived as 2.5 percent more productive than men to be equally considered in grant applications. The pandemic is making women less visible in academia, which impacts their ability to succeed.


The Gap between men and women in research and the pandemic

During the pandemic, women will have little time to perform research or other scholarly duties because of their service duties. Additionally, the pandemic has caused there to be a higher demand at home. As a result, women are more likely to have to drop some academic responsibilities, seeing as expected to perform household duties/caregiving.


The impact of expectations at home

The first step is that academic institutions must be open to having a conversation about gender biases. The second step is to create something similar to the National Science Foundation(NSF) or a Pandemic Response Faculty fellow(PFMC). 

Solutions to ensure equity between genders in academia during the pandemic

Women have larger teaching loads and teach more remedial/introductory courses(which increases the number of students they are responsible for) than their male counterparts. People of color are also expected to take on more work/mentorship duties. Institutions typically value these services less when it comes to tenure/promotion. 

Service expectations of women in academia

During the COVID-19 pandemic, academic institutions have implemented gender-neutral productivity policies, such as tenure extensions. However, these policies can negatively impact women in academia by delaying their acquisition of tenure, which subsequently hinders their ability to secure positions of power and research grants. This highlights the need for targeted interventions to prevent women from falling disproportionately behind.

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