By Lacie Blankenship
Before Women’s History Month, there was Women’s History Week, first authorized by Congress in 1981 and celebrated each March from 1982 – 1986. After a push from the National Women’s History Project, Congress passed legislation in 1987 to designate March as Women’s History Month, so that the president could issue an annual proclamation to “celebrate the contributions women have made to the United States and recognize the specific achievements women have made over the course of American history in a variety of fields.”
Proclamations aside, Women’s History Month has a unique meaning to everyone. We asked a few of our female faculty members what Women’s History Month means to them:
“Women’s History Month is a great reminder of what efforts it took for women to reach today’s life. It also gives us an opportunity to assess today’s situation and encourages us to keep moving. The efforts for advocating women can not only come from women but the whole society.” –Kejia Hu, Brownlee O. Currey Jr. Dean’s Faculty Fellow and Assistant Professor of Operations Management
“It is an acknowledgment that women have made contributions in all aspects of society and to all professions and fields of study in spite of (a) the limitations and obstacles that they have faced due to their relatively lower social status compared to men and (b) their limited access to power and resources compared to men.” –María del Carmen Triana, Cal Turner Chair in Moral Leadership and Professor of Management
“Women’s History Month is important to me in that it is a celebration of women where we recognize and cherish women for exactly who they are. It reminds us that in the past being a successful woman meant being like a man or being an idealized version of a woman. Because of the hard work of past women, we are able to recognize and love women for being exactly who they are. We still have more work to do, but it’s important to also reflect on how far we have come.” –Brianna Escoe, Senior Lecturer of Marketing
“It lets me reflect on the voice and opportunities I have compared to those of even my mom and the generations before that. It is also a chance to remember and appreciate the women who were brave enough to be ‘firsts’ in areas where they were ‘not supposed to’ belong.” –Veronika Krepely Pool, Professor of Finance
One faculty member commented that “we have a long way to go as a country/society to achieve gender parity,” and they couldn’t be more correct. In business and the workplace especially, there are still great strides that need to be made. Honoring Women’s History Month is a small step forward.
