The AAUW Public Policy Committee and Board of Directors recommend the following changes to the Public Policy Priorities.
Background
Every other year, the national member-led Public Policy Committee, working with national AAUW staff, solicits member input on AAUW’s Public Policy Priorities and puts forth recommendations to the AAUW Board of Directors on proposed changes.
Member input on the proposed changes was sought during the January comment period and is incorporated into these final recommendations.
Recommended changes
The document was reformatted to provide a better distinction between the guiding principles of AAUW’s public policy work at all levels, and the biennial action priorities for AAUW national’s federal advocacy work over the next two years.
The proposed principles continue to emphasize core values regarding education, economic security and social justice. The proposal removes issues that, while valuable and important components to equity, go beyond the scope of AAUW’s focus on higher education and were so broad as to not provide guidance on the types of policy approaches that would be in line with AAUW’s mission.
The proposed policy priorities for federal advocacy focus on equity in higher education and are chosen based on critical need, political viability, and potential for distinctive AAUW contribution or leadership.
Below is a summary of proposed changes for 2025-2027:
- Specific endorsement of the 2024 Title IX regulations which provide increased support for student survivors of sexual harassment and assault and clarify Title IX protections for students who are LGBTQ+, pregnant, or parenting. Note that this language was updated after member comment to further clarify how support for comprehensive Title IX rules are articulated in light of the vacatur of the 2024 Title IX rules.
- Clear articulation of support for inclusion of LGBTQ+ individuals in policies around school and workplace protections.
- Emphasis on specific components important for women’s economic security including education, pay equity, caregiving burdens, retirement safety nets, and access to contraception and abortion.
- Enumeration of specific civil rights laws impacting education in addition to Title IX.
- Recognition that the Equal Rights Amendment has met the constitutional requirements for ratification as articulated in the U.S. Constitution.
- Removal of broad statements about poverty reduction, housing, health care for all, gun violence, immigration, and campaign finance reform.
- Clear articulation that AAUW’s public policy focus is domestic.
- Inclusion of sex in addition to gender for consistency with AAUW’s DEI Toolkit.
This document is intended to outline the overarching core values guiding AAUW’s policy work to provide flexibility at the federal, state, and local level. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of specific issues critical to ensure equity for all.
AAUW 2025-2027 Public Policy Principles and Priorities
The Public Policy Principles and Priorities underscore AAUW’s mission to advance gender equity for women and girls through research, education and advocacy. They establish principles for action on which AAUW members across the country focus their advocacy efforts. They guide the work of the AAUW’s federal priorities and that of AAUW state organizations and branches on state and local issue advocacy efforts.
AAUW positions are shaped by our commitment to equity by being nonpartisan, evidence-based, experience-driven, inclusive, and intersectional. AAUW opposes all forms of discrimination on the basis of age, disability, race, ethnicity, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, geographical location, national origin, religious beliefs, pregnancy or parental status or socioeconomic status, and supports constitutional protection for the civil rights of all individuals. AAUW believes in the need to end white supremacy and address structural and systemic racism. Efforts to advance racial, ethnic, and gender justice must be embedded into every policy initiative.
AAUW stands for Education
- Public Education:
- Investing in strong public education systems which provide equitable high quality public K-12 education
- Opposing all diversions of public funds to nonpublic elementary, secondary education and charter schools
- Closing the learning and opportunity gaps that disproportionately affect students from low-income and underserved groups
- Inclusive Curriculum:
- Ensuring all curriculum represents historically accurate information, information based on scientific consensus, and is free from censorship and political, religious, or cultural bias
- STEM Opportunities:
- Closing the gender gap in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education
- Strengthened Civil Rights Protections
- Strengthening civil rights statutes impacting education including Title IX, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and other applicable laws
- Reinstating Title IX rules that strengthen and clarify protections for student survivors of sexual harassment and assault, ensure schools provide accommodations for pregnant and parenting students, and affirm Title IX’s protections from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity
- Prohibiting harassment and bullying in schools, including support of enumerated anti-bullying and harassment laws and policies
- Higher Education:
- Supporting equitable access to higher education, which is affordable, inclusive and yields high-quality credentials or degrees through increasing investment in financial support for degree programs and addressing the debt burden which disproportionately impacts women and borrowers of color
- Expanding access for women in career and technical education and training that yields high quality credentials or degrees
- Reducing barriers to postsecondary success through policies that mitigate non-tuition challenges to completing a degree or high-quality certificate program, including supporting pregnant or parenting students, expanding access to affordable child care, and ensuring access to contraception and abortion care.
AAUW stands for Economic Security
- Pay Equity:
- Ensuring equal pay and benefits for work of equivalent value, and addressing root causes of occupational segregation
- Addressing the multiple factors that reinforce the gender and racial pay gaps, through increasing salary transparency, eliminating salary history to set future wages, increasing the minimum wage and other policies that mitigate the gender pay gap
- Enforcing and expanding employment discrimination statutes
- Mitigation of Caregiving:
- Improving access to paid sick leave, medical leave, safe leave, affordable child and elder care, and other policies that mitigate the unequal burden on women for caregiving responsibilities
- Retirement Safety Nets:
- Strengthening Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid and oppose any efforts to undermine them, including privatization and block grant proposals
- Reproductive Freedom:
- Ensuring access to contraception and abortion care for all women regardless of location
AAUW stands for Social Justice and Civil Rights
- Constitutional Rights:
- Vigorous enforcement of and full access to civil and constitutional rights, including recognition and publication of the Equal Rights Amendment
- Complete, accurate and timely collection of data, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, and gender identity to inform policy decisions and the apportionment of political representation
- Expanding Voting Rights:
- Expanding voting rights to promote equitable political participation and ensure all Americans have the same access and right to vote
- Freedom from Harassment and Violence:
- Ensuring that people who are subject to harassment or violence based on age, disability, race, ethnicity, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, geographical location, national origin, religious beliefs, pregnancy or parental status have full protection and recourse under the law
- Supporting policies to end gender-based violence, including reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)
- Supporting policies that address the prevention of human trafficking and protection of its victims
- International and Civil Rights:
- Supporting U.S. advancement towards the gender equity goals on education and the economy in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action
- Supporting ratification of the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
2025-2027 Biennial Action Priorities
AAUW’s Biennial Action Priorities for federal action are chosen according to the criteria of viability, critical need, strong member support, and potential for distinctive AAUW contribution or leadership. These national priorities inform local, state, and federal action. Additional priorities may be added based on circumstances. No order of importance for the priorities is implied.
To support equitable access to higher education that promotes gender fairness, equity, diversity and inclusivity, and to address the barriers and implicit biases that hinder the advancement of women and girls especially women of color, AAUW advocates for:
- Reinstating Title IX rules that strengthen and clarify protections for student survivors of sexual harassment and assault, ensure schools provide accommodations for pregnant and parenting students, and affirm Title IX’s protections from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity
- Ensuring institutions of higher education are accessible to all students regardless of socioeconomic status, the environment and curriculum is inclusive, and free from political, religious, or cultural bias
- Reducing barriers to postsecondary success, including increasing investment in financial support for degree programs, campus child care programs
- Policies that support women in pursuit of higher education, including increased access to paid leave, access to contraception and abortion care, affordable high-quality child care