Equitable Pay & Hiring
in Environmental Education
There are several key areas that employers must change to make environmental education careers more accessible to a broader population, including pay and benefits, position design, recruitment, processes, and practices. The eeGuidance for Equitable Pay and Hiring provides researched explanations of why these areas matter and it outlines specific minimum standards for employers to enact immediately and identifies the target standards that we all must work toward to transform employment in our field.
eeGuidance for Equitable Pay & Hiring
Environmental education, like many other sectors, endeavors to answer the calls to examine its history of institutional racism and discrimination, adopt more inclusive hiring practices and address inequities in compensation and benefits packages to make our field more equitable, welcoming and sustainable.
In 2021 the Southeast Environmental Education Alliance (SEEA) conducted a landscape analysis to understand the current state, ongoing needs, and growth areas for the regional environmental education field. This data confirms that entry-level pay in environmental education is 15-25% lower than in comparable fields such as forestry, tourism, and formal education.
Using the SEEA findings, we make the case for a reimagining of more equitable hiring and pay practices. This report provides recommendations and highlights some best practices for environmental and outdoor education organizations. Once applied, these standards and resources will help improve employee retention, attract more diverse talent, create a sustainable career path, and establish our field as a viable profession.
ENDORSEMENT
Networks, coalitions, and job boards that approve and support this eeGuidance can be recognized as endorsing organizations on our site. See the full list of organizations who have endorsed the eeGuidance for Equitable Pay & Hiring below and become an endorser today.
This form is not for individual employers. If you are an organization, agency, or employer that meets or exceeds these requirements in your hiring, communicate your support for this eeGuidance by adding the language described under "Next Steps" in future job postings.
