Building on History, Shaping the Future

Last semester, I took part in a celebration honoring the 50th anniversary of the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) and the leaders, past and present, who made that milestone possible.

As a physician-scientist who has studied the impact of sex and gender on health and disease, I have long been impressed by WCW’s work. Even before I came to Wellesley, I understood how the centers’ mission aligned with the College’s, particularly the focus on turning research into action and using data to drive progress.

Indeed, founding the Wellesley Center for Research on Women (which went on to become the WCW) was a brilliant move by Barbara Newell, Wellesley’s 10th president—she knew the feminist movement needed the kind of intellectual heft that could only be achieved through research.

Now, a half-century later, we find ourselves at a pivotal moment. We are witnessing ongoing threats to women’s education and to the health of women and girls, and a persistent gender pay gap, among other pressing issues. In response, WCW is marshaling its research, influence, and people to make a difference.

At a time when the Taliban has banned women from using their voices in public, WCW International Scholar-in-Residence Pashtana Durrani, a renowned Afghan activist, is sharing her knowledge and inspiring our community. Durrani, who founded LEARN Afghanistan, the country’s first digital school network, is here to continue her research to help Afghan women and girls pursue education and to support the health of Afghan mothers and babies.

As we face an ongoing mental health crisis that is particularly acute among young women, girls, and transgender and gender-nonconforming youth, WCW Senior Research Scientist Linda Charmaraman is offering solutions through her Youth, Media & Wellbeing Research Lab. Her longitudinal research is showing how social media affects its youngest and most marginalized users.

We are also seeing gender inequity persist in the workplace even though young women are outstripping young men in both educational attainment and employment rates. WCW Senior Research Scientist Sari Pekkala Kerr worked with Claudia Goldin, a Nobel laureate in economics, on groundbreaking research in this area. Kerr found that as their children get older, mothers can increase their work hours, but they never catch up to the earnings of fathers. Her work will enable employers, policymakers, and others to critically analyze and ultimately address gender pay gaps.

In nearly every area where issues important to women are minimized, contested, or simply dismissed—and while major policy discussions are happening via soundbites and social media posts—WCW is moving the needle.

In significant ways, WCW helps emphasize our power as the world’s preeminent women’s college and our commitment to having an impact around the globe. This is why we are amplifying its influence by bringing it together with the Madeleine Korbel Albright Institute for Global Affairs and the Hillary Rodham Clinton Center for Citizenship, Leadership, and Democracy as part of the Susan L. Wagner ’82 Centers for Wellesley in the World. Our goal is to increase collaboration among fellows, researchers, and faculty, build on existing initiatives, and enhance faculty research and student learning.

Together we will continue to pursue WCW’s mission to leverage evidence to dislodge old ideas and push policy forward. Its 50-year history of creating transformational change provides us with a road map to a better future, one where women’s safety, health, and prosperity lead to progress for all.