1. Organization
The initial challenge was to organize the work and
responsibilities of the Task Force. This challenge
surfaced at the first meeting of the Task Force.
Recognizing that external resources would unavailable,
each member was asked to offer a brief summary of his or
her areas of expertise and interest in working on various
aspects of the charge. Further organizational challenges
concerned the nature of external/internal communications.
Task Force members agreed to allow Professor Williams to
serve as Task Force liaison to the press. However, all
Task Force members were free to express generic
observations about Task Force processes, recognizing that
some data, findings, and information would be regarded as
private and confidential.
At the meeting of October 8, 1999, the Task Force
formed two Subcommittees: the Perceptions Measurement
Subcommittee and the Quantitative Data Collections
Subcommittee. The Perceptions Measurement Subcommittee
was chaired by Task Force member Maranto and was charged
with determining what perceptions to measure, designing a
survey instrument, recommending other sources of
information, and addressing issues such as whether to
interview faculty who had left Marquette, and those who
had declined to come to Marquette. Other members of the
Perceptions Measurement Subcommittee included: Aguilu de
Murphy, Anderson, Hay, Hughson, S. J., Kovach, McDonald,
S. J., Slattery, Snow, and Williams, ex officio. The
Quantitative Data Subcommittee was chaired by Task Force
member Toumanoff and was charged with identifying
collectable data, designing a survey instrument,
recommending sources of data, and addressing concerns
about longitudinal data. Subcommittee members included:
Anderson, Garrett, Hoeveler, Hoy, Maranto, Sullivan,
Wiseman, and Williams, ex officio. The Subcommittees met
a number of times during October and November, and
reported to the Task Force at its December 8, 1999
meeting. At that meeting, the Task Force identified
additional challenges of defining gender discrimination,
discussing perspectives on gender equity and inequity,
defining gender equity and inequity for purposes of the
Task Force, and understanding survey instruments,
statistical studies, and reports.
When the initial Subcommittees completed their
preliminary efforts, the Task Force reorganized into
three new work groups: Work Group I, under the leadership
of Reverend McDonald, S. J., was charged with the task of
interviewing administrators and/or specific individuals
in the administration. Members included: Hughson, S. J.,
Hay, Halula, Sampson, Schrank, and Snow. Work Group II,
under the direction of Task Force member Toumanoff, was
charged with analyzing salary data and survey results.
Members included: Garrett, Maranto, and Unsworth. Work
Group III, under the direction of Task Force member
Wiseman, was charged to gather case studies and other
accounts from faculty who had left Marquette or from
faculty who desired to report events in greater detail
than information captured by the survey instrument.
Members included: Aguilu de Murphy, Anderson, Hoeveler,
Maranto, and Slattery. Task Force member Maranto
continued directing the Perceptions Measurement
Subcommittee. At its July, 2000 meeting, Task Force
members Sampson and Silver-Thorn volunteered to collect
longitudinal data on salaries at hire. This information
was later analyzed by Task Force member Toumanoff.
2. Defining Gender Equity
The task of defining gender equity was among those
agenda items addressed by the Task Force at its January
17, 2000 meeting. Reverend Thomas Hughson, S. J., led a
discussion on Decree 14 of Congregation 34, entitled
"Jesuits and the Situation of Women in Church and Civil
Society."8
Understanding gender equity in the context of this
document enabled the Task Force to contextualize its work
within the Mission of the University.
Decree 14 provided an important justification for
Marquette's renewed commitment to gender equity. It
underscored the Marquette University Mission Statement
and the Marquette University Statement on Human Dignity
and Diversity. In Decree 14, the 34th General
Congregation applied faith and justice to the variable
situations of women in all contemporary cultures. It
acknowledged that, "[t]he dominance of men in
their relationship with women has found expression in
many ways. . . . discrimination against women in
educational opportunities, the disproportionate burden
they are called upon to bear in family life, paying them
a lesser wage for the same work, limiting their access to
positions of influence when limited to public life . . .
"9
Decree 14 recognized that the situation of
women has begun to change, " . . . chiefly because of the
critical awakening and courageous protest of women
themselves."10
"Many men … have joined women in rejecting attitudes
which offend the dignity of men and women
alike."11
Nonetheless, a legacy of systemic discrimination exists
and remains embedded in " . . . economic, social,
political, religious, and even linguistic structures of
our societies."12
The Decree emphasized that the social teaching of the
Catholic Church within the last ten years instructs its
membership to react strongly against continuing
discrimination and prejudice against women. Using
ecclesial reflections on Scripture, the Decree noted that
" . . . there is an urgency in the challenge to translate
theory [the theory that men and women are created
equally in the image of God] into practice not only
outside but within the Church itself."13
Reflecting on the roles and responsibilities of
Jesuits, Decree 14 offered concrete guidance for
responding to the current situation of women. Jesuits
were invited to " . . . listen carefully and courageously
to the experience of women."14
Furthermore, this listening must occur in a " . . .
spirit of partnership and equality."15
Additionally, Jesuits were invited to " . . . align
themselves in solidarity with women . . ."16
in very practical ways. Among the many practical
strategies offered by Decree 14 as directly relevant to
the central Jesuit educational apostolate17
were the following:
- [E]xplicit teaching of the
essential equality of women and men in Jesuit
ministries, especially in schools, colleges and
universities
- [S]upport for liberation movements which
oppose the exploitation of women and encourage their
entry into political life and social life
- [S]pecific attention to the phenomenon of
violence against women
- [A]ppropriate presence of women in Jesuit
ministries and institutions, not excluding the
ministry of formation
- [G]enuine involvement of women in
consultation and decision making in our Jesuit
ministries
- [R]espectful cooperation with our female
colleagues in shared projects
- [U]se of appropriately inclusive language
in speech and official documents
- [P]romotion of the education of women and,
in particular, the elimination of all forms of
illegitimate discrimination between boys and girls in
the educational process.18
Appropriating concepts from Decree 14, the Task Force
adopted a definition of gender equity that surpassed mere
legal compliance with the numerous federal and state
civil rights laws that prohibit sex discrimination in the
workplace:
Gender equity is the equal treatment of women and
men in the workplace. It includes a consideration of
whether cultural mores embedded within the economic,
social, political, religious, and even linguistic
structures of our society operate in such a fashion that
they offend the equal dignity of women created with men
in the image of God.
