"Writing in these pages last fall, Linda Babcock, Brenda Peyser, Lise Vesterlund, and Laurie Weingart bemoaned the “non-promotable task” — things like serving on behind-the-scenes committees or institutional review boards and mentoring junior staff. “Compared with men,” they write, “women are 48 percent more likely to volunteer (when a volunteer is sought), 50 percent more likely to say yes when asked directly, and 44 percent more likely to be asked.” If a global pandemic wasn’t enough to upend old-fashioned gender expectations, what would be enough?" [...]

"So what is to be done? Mainardi’s strategies for balancing domestic labor work in today’s academic setting. She recommends the following: First, understand that men held to tasks at work are “feeling it more” because they are “losing some leisure” while the rest of us are reclaiming it. Second, be aware that “men have always had servants (us) to take care of this bottom stratum of life while they have confined their efforts to the rarefied upper regions.” Third, take note that some men — especially those who saw themselves as comrades in the fight for equality — might be traumatized when they realize they are, in fact, the oppressor. Finally, Mainardi urges us to “periodically consider who’s actually doing the jobs” and notes that using time sheets can be helpful, but one must be prepared to be disparaged as “petty.”