Chairing an academic department in a climate of crisis: Exploring the implications and limits of an ethic of care

Abstract

Chairing an academic department comes with interesting challenges. Much literature exists describing strategies and techniques department chairpersons should employ to develop and maintain efficient, effective, and enjoyable academic departments, but rarely are issues of ethics included in the discussion. With the onset of a global pandemic in spring of 2020, institutions of all kinds faced situations and problems that no one was prepared to navigate. This brief report uses the pandemic as the backdrop for the additional challenges confronted at a regional, midwestern public university. To better understand responses in my department, I reflect on strategies and decisions made during the first year as the new chairperson and conclude that a climate of crisis, combined with expectations unique to women in leadership, call into question the effectiveness of an ethic of care. The ethic of care and nurturing behaviors, thus, can be unsustainable and need an ethic of justice as a counterpart.