Unpaid Labor
For many being at home entails additional responsibilities that normally
do not coexist with school. Similar to women faculty, women students
often find themselves assuming the greater share of domestic and
caregiving responsibilities. A recent article in the journal Nature
describes the imbalanced consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in
women’s academic productivity (Minello, 2020). When students go home,
they return to the life that they would have before they were students.
This is not business as usual some of those students came from
circumstances where they have great family responsibility. The children
of essential workers and first responders find themselves caring for
younger siblings, the elderly relatives or the sick. Not only is this
emotionally draining, but good caregiving is time consuming and
physically demanding. In other cases, the student or a relative may be
immunocompromised or have other comorbidities that put them at high
risk. For the students whose parents are essential workers or first
responders there is the consistent worry that these individuals who are
doing the work to keep the rest of us safe and healthy may themselves be
in harm’s way or become ill because of their profession.
Depending on the severity, all the previously mentioned circumstances
(untreated mental illness, anxiety, food insecurity, homelessness,
physical and mental abuse, racial discrimination, poverty) can be
traumatic to students. Employing the principles of trauma-informed
teaching can help students to less susceptible to their problematic
circumstances (Carello, 2015). Trauma-informed teaching centers around
five fundamental principles a) ensuring safety, b) establishing
trustworthiness, c) maximizing choice, d) maximizing collaboration, and
d) prioritizing empowerment. These elements can be integrated into
online and/or face-to-face teaching to promote a more inclusive
environment for all students.