Parental leave is just a wolf in sheep’s clothing: A call for gender-aware policies in academia

Abstract

Gabriel et al. (2023) bring attention to an oft-discussed issue, women’s caregiving and tenure/ promotion in academia, and that one often precludes the other from success. Importantly and perhaps alluded to in the focal article, the challenge of caregiving for women in academia are conversations held in whispers and among our closest confidants, at least in the past. However, through largely women-led scholarship and raising their voices (in symposia and panel discussions) at some of our most prestigious conferences in the I-O psychology and management fields, these issues are starting to gain traction. While we largely agree with Gabriel et al.’s (2023) call to action, we seek to draw attention to, and critique, their argument that caregiving policies (e.g., parental leave) are a panacea for addressing women’s caregiving in academia. More specifically, Gabriel et al. (2023) correctly note that in the United States, an absence of appropriate caregiving policies places department chairs/ heads and other faculty members as allies in enacting change to support women caregivers in the academy. However, we contend that policy can be addressed, that is university policies can be enacted and changed, and feminist economics offers an avenue with which to do so. We first describe feminist economics, and we then discuss university caregiving policies as gender-blind, challenging the arguments in the focal article that parental leave and tenure extension are vital to women’s success. Finally, we conclude with steps for establishing gender awareness in university policies aimed at supporting caregiving, ending with suggestions for practical solutions. Importantly, we challenge Gabriel et al.’s (2023) call to action with the following battle cry: universities must enact and/or change their policies to be gender-aware in order to support the advancement of their women caregivers