Amplification of Structural Inequalities: Research Sabbaticals During COVID-19

Abstract

With the closing of schools and child care centers, the pandemic has significantly increased parents’ caregiving labor, especially mothers, who do much more caregiving than fathers. The pandemic is hitting communities of color particularly hard, placing a heavy burden of stress and caregiving responsibilities for ill family members on Black and Brown women. In this essay, I examine how the pandemic is influencing the ability of female faculty members to engage in research and writing during sabbaticals, with particular attention to the impact of parenthood status, race/ethnicity, and socio-economic background. I argue that the pandemic is amplifying pre-existing structural inequalities that have negative impacts on female faculty members’ ability to conduct research during their sabbaticals. In my conclusion, I will examine some institutional responses to the crisis and their potential to enhance faculty sabbatical research during the pandemic.