The Committee will pursue greater parity for women in the discipline by means of three activities: (1) monitoring, (2)advocating, and (3) educating.

• Parity is understood to mean not just percentages of anthropologists employed in academic settings, but also indicators of career success and quality of work, among anthropologists employed in both academic and professional settings and within the student population. This also includes salary equity between male and female academic faculty and professional staff.
• Monitoring will include gathering information that illuminates issues that affect the diverse women in anthropology.
• Advocating will include bringing our findings before the Association's members, in the form of resolutions, when appropriate.
• Educating will include distributing brochures, meeting with department chairs, setting up an interactive presence on the Internet/World Wide Web and writing periodic updates for the Anthropology News. In addition, COSWA will identify forms of sexual harassment in all settings where anthropologists and students work and learn. Our gaze on gender parity includes the varieties of biases that complicate issues regarding race/ethnicity, gender stereotyping and preferences, class and disabilities. Finally, the Committee will interact on an ongoing basis with the Association's long-range planning process on issues of gender parity.