Carol Gilligan, a Harvard psychologist and author, developed the Stages of the Ethics of Care theory to illustrate what makes actions right or wrong. Her theory highlights that an ethical life centered on care-taking depends on building strong relationships and interactions with others, rather than from other capacities. She believed that a woman’s morality, more so than a man’s, emanates from life’s day-to-day challenges, rather than from life’s abstractness, and that women prioritize an “ethics of care” as their morality evolves (click here for reference).

An outcome of the Ethic of Care is that women are by and large the caretakers in a family, the teachers who help children learn, the nurses who tend to the sick, the social workers who help those in need, and the psychologists who tend to people’s emotional well being. These represent five examples of roles or professions in which women are the overwhelming majority, serving as caretakers of relationships. This ignores women who are mothers in married households.

There are plenty of men who exhibit an ethic of care and foster the development of strong relationships with others. However, men tend to occupy roles or professionals that are transactional. Examples of male-dominated professions include manufacturing, construction, professional and business services, and lawyers. Occupations with a smaller share of women workers. “When it comes to political power, women are totally outnumbered by men, accounting for less than 7 percent of the world’s leaders and only 24 percent of lawmakers, according to the latest statistics” (click here for reference). It is these leaders that are often overseeing the roughly 10+ wars currently being waged around the globe. Wars in which the ethics of care is mostly absent because women’s voices are not being embraced.

In Russia, it is women who are fighting for the return of their husbands and sons from the war Russia started with Ukraine (click here for reference). They are trying to preserve the relationships so integral to their family’s and the society’s well being. Throughout history women have spoken out as highlighted in this Business Insider story, 16 women throughout history who famously fought for equality. These are women who were driven by an ethic of care.

We need to embrace the spirit and principles that are the foundation of an Ethic of Care. Carol Gilligan eloquently articulates this vision in her books, In a Different Voice and Moral Voices, Moral Selves. How do we move from a culture of polarization and dissociation to a culture where the ethics of care are embraced as essential? It takes people of courage and conviction grounded in the central idea that healthy, respectful, and responsive relationships build trust, which allows the human traits of vulnerability and transparency to rise up. Cultures that resolve differences through dialogue, mediation, and resolution, rather than through polarization, disrespect, and discord are healthy and strong. Where are these cultures in today’s world? We need women’s voices to steer us.

An Ethic of Care would…

• heal the tens of millions who are suffering around the globe.
• address planetary destruction due to climate change.
• conserve and share the wealth and resources of our planet.
• build relationships across boundaries.
• value all voices because every life matters.
• strengthen authentic and meaningful connections

These are just a handful of examples of what an Ethic of Care would accomplish. In order to achieve these outcomes, we need to support women entering leadership roles around the globe, especially in those cultures were women’s voices don’t count. While women will continue to serving their cultures in roles and professions that build and nurture relationships, we need them take their talents into businesses and government in greater numbers, using their talents and capacities to create ethical and caring places in which all people can thrive.