Dual Ordination Tracks: Differential Benefits and Costs for Men and Women Clergy

Abstract

Although some religious organizations have had a sequential, two-ordination process for clergy, the implementation of two or more discrete ordination tracks is a recent development. In research on careers of 1,158 male and female clergy in two denominations that have instituted discrete ordination tracks - the Episcopal Church and the Unitarian Universalist Association - a similar relationship appeared between these newer ordination tracks and growing pressure toward clergy occupational feminization. The more recent tracks were sex-segregated, and there was evidence of occupational conflation between female clergy in both tracks that did not occur with the male clergy. The evidence suggests that dual ordination tracks may serve a dual utility, not only as an occupatioal response to socioeconomic changes within religious organizations but also to occupational feminization, in a manner that disproportionately concentrates male clergy in high-level positions. Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibiting discrimination based on sex has been critical to helping women gain legitimate opportunities in male-dominant occupations, but the First Amendment-based separation of church and state exempts one profession that women have sought to enter in substantially increased numbers since the 1960s: the ordained ministry. Several religious organizations have instituted affirmative action policies for minority and women clergy, but their efficacy has been problematic due to their voluntary nature, their tendency to focus on entry rather than upper-level placements, and the development of other occupational processes that can inadvertently undermine good intentions. One such occupational process, which is the subject of this research, involves segregation in clergy jobs and duties through the development of discrete ordination tracks. Although this process occurs only in some mainline religious organizations, others have been giving it serious consideration. With job segregation normally being the primary means of achieving occupational discrimination (Treiman and Hartmann, 1981), this study will suggest that the expansion of ordination tracking has substantial gender-related effects, with potentially discriminatory outcomes for careers of women clergy.