But in higher education, these two holidays, one honoring workers and the other honoring caregivers, intersect in ways we rarely acknowledge. Whether they are mothers or not, women staff in higher education disproportionately shoulder caregiving responsibilities both at home and at work. They are the ones students turn to in crisis, the ones who absorb emotional labor in their departments, the ones who smooth over conflict, mentor struggling colleagues, and keep institutions functioning.
A 2025 report from CUPA-HR notes non‑exempt staff in higher education account for 59% of the higher education workforce. This share is slightly lower than the 62% representation of women in higher‑ed professional roles, but higher than the 55% seen among higher‑ed administrators; within non‑exempt positions where women are most heavily represented in office and clerical roles at 86%.
And yet, despite staff and women being the largest portion of the higher education workforce they remain structurally undervalued, underprotected, and overextended. Results from a study published last week that I co‑authored with Emily Creamer and Susan Iverson, Navigating the Intersection: Imposter Phenomenon and Trauma Among Women Staff in Higher Education, published in the Journal of Trauma Studies in Education, reveals not only how deep these inequities run, but also their pernicious effects on women workers.
The Hidden Trauma Burden Women Staff Carry
In our survey of 276 women staff, over 63% reported experiencing individual, secondary trauma, or organizational trauma including crisis response, bullying, microaggressions, and even direct violence. These are not isolated incidents. They are symptoms of institutional cultures that normalize overwork, tolerate abusive supervision, and rely on the invisible labor of women to keep campuses afloat.
The consequences are profound. Trauma increases vigilance, self‑doubt, and overwork. It also intensifies imposter feelings, which nearly all respondents reported at moderate or higher levels. Women who experienced workplace trauma reported significantly higher imposter feelings, reporting frequent and intense feeling of being an imposter. When considering the institutional role in producing women’s staff’s feelings of imposter phenomenon, we move from seeing this as an individual flaw. Imposter phenomenon is not an individual flaw; it is a systemic response to inequity, exclusion, and institutional trauma. Imposter feelings are not about women workers lacking confidence. It is about institutions failing to provide safety, support, and equitable working conditions.
The Great Resignation Didn’t Spare Higher Education
Higher education leaders often talk about the “pipeline problem” or the shrinking pool of applicants. But the data tells a different story: people are leaving because the conditions are untenable. CUPA‑HR reports that voluntary turnover for non‑instructional staff has climbed steadily from 7.9% in 2020–21 to 14.3% in 2022–23. This is the highest since tracking began. Women staff, who disproportionately occupy student‑facing and crisis‑response roles, are among the most affected. When they leave, institutions lose far more than a position line. They lose continuity, student support, institutional memory, and the relational glue that holds campuses together.
Why May Is the Right Time to Tell the Truth
May Day asks us to honor workers. Mother’s Day asks us to honor caregivers. If we truly want to honor women staff in higher education this May, we must stop offering gratitude and start offering change. We celebrate women workers dedication while ignoring the conditions that deplete them. We praise women workers resilience while failing to address the trauma that necessitates it. We applaud women workers commitment to students while overlooking the institutional neglect that makes their work unsustainable.
What Higher Education Must Do Now
Just like our study, imposter phenomenon and trauma were not individual problems, but rather they were organizational ones. And organizational problems require structural solutions. Here are some structural solutions that institutions of higher education can begin to implement to better support women staff:
1. Implement mandatory trauma‑informed leadership training.
Supervisors and administrators should be trained to recognize trauma responses, avoid re‑traumatization, and create psychologically safe environments. Institutions must implement mandatory trauma-informed care training focusing specifically on recognizing trauma responses, avoiding re-traumatization practices, and creating psychologically safe work environments.
2. Enforce robust anti‑violence and anti‑bullying policies.
Cases of supervisor abuse, including bullying and intimidation, demonstrate that current policies lack teeth. Institutions need clear reporting pathways, independent investigations, and meaningful consequences for abusive supervisors.
3. Reduce structural contributors to burnout.
Unrealistic workloads, constant crisis response, and lack of work‑life balance are not badges of honor. These climates are risk factors for trauma. Streamlining processes, setting boundaries, prioritizing tasks creating flexibility within the workday especially when staff work evenings and weekend are not luxuries; they are necessities.
4. Build intersectional protections for women of color.
Women of color face compounded trauma from racial microaggressions, retaliation, and exclusion. Policies must explicitly address these intersecting harms.
5. Invest in staff development and well‑being.
If institutions can fund student success centers and faculty development offices, they can fund staff development offices and wellness infrastructures too.
A Call to Action for May—and Beyond
This May, let’s resist the temptation to romanticize women’s labor. Let’s refuse to celebrate their sacrifices without interrogating why they are sacrificing so much in the first place. Women staff in higher education deserve more than flowers, brunches, and social media posts. They deserve workplaces that do not traumatize them. They deserve supervisors who do not harm them. They deserve policies that protect them. They deserve recognition not just for their caregiving, but for their expertise, leadership, and indispensable contributions to institutional success.
If higher education wants to retain the women who keep it running, it must transform, not applaud, the conditions under which they work. That is how we honor May Day and Mother’s Day; and that is how we honor the women staff who represent the majority of the higher education workforce.
