The Program in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies
Between August 16, 2021 and October 08, 2021, GSWS/FQT gathered data from Penn faculty, staff, post docs, and graduate students through its Caregiving on Campus Survey. The survey sought to measure the level of support employees with caregiving responsibilities had received from the University as of fall 2021, as well as feelings about return to campus policies. The survey also attempted to assess the needs of caregivers at the institutional and departmental level. The findings are telling: only 9% of respondents felt ‘adequately supported,’ by the University’s pandemic caregiver policies and even fewer (1.3%) felt fully supported. Overall, more than a third (34.6%) of survey respondents indicated that they felt ‘abandoned’ by the University’s pandemic caregiver policies to date, while nearly half (46.3%) felt abandoned in the University’s return to campus plans.
The full analysis of the findings of this survey, together with recommendations for the University on how this care crisis might be addressed can be found here. Please circulate the report and its recommendations widely, and join GSWS/FQT in advocating for revitalized Penn policies that treat care as the critical infrastructure that it is.