Evangelical seminaries, says Emily Dolan Gierer for Christianity Today:
In theory, the demand for paid family leave fits well with Christian values, which encourage and celebrate marriage and the raising of children. What could be more pro-family than polices that allow parents to be home with their child during the first weeks of the child’s life? How then do explicitly Christian institutions navigate paid parental leave and other flexible work policies?. . .
Some experts say institutional culture is more significant than institutional policies, but if Christian seminaries have family-friendly cultures, why are these cultures not officially protected and supported in their institutional policies? When it comes to creating family-friendly work environments, many evangelical seminaries tout the importance of informal flexibility over formalized policies. [Read more]
Informal flexibility is all to the good, but things that are not institutionalized can, as the article argues, sometimes be honored more in the breach than in the observance–depending on what department you work in, who your boss is, or how pushy you are in the face of cultural expectations to work your nose to the academic grindstone.
The best policies for families turn out to be at large research universities, though they have their own problems in getting more women on the tenure track. (And then there’s a whole other article that could be written about paternity leave…)
Food for thought.
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