Wanted: The Retention of Female Graduate Students
Stanford follows MIT’s lead and implements maternity policy for female graduate students; move recognizes challenges in retaining women in academia
By Veronica P. Mendoza

PALO ALTO, CALIF.
Like many new mothers, Hrefna Marin Gunnarsdottir, 29, was nervous about the responsibilities that come with being a first-time parent. Factor in the responsibilities that also come with being a graduate student and it’s not difficult to understand how a much anticipated time in a woman’s life could become overwhelming.

“Pregnancy is a stressful time and it was unnecessarily difficult,” Gunnarsdottir says about the experience. Instead of being able to focus on her parenting responsibilities, the Stanford University graduate student often found herself racing to complete assignments and projects. Her daughter, Anna, is now 2.

However, should she decide to have another child while pursuing her doctorate in electrical engineering, the Iceland native may encounter fewer academic complications because of a new policy that Stanford has implemented for female graduate students.

Announced in January, the new policy is modeled after the “Childbirth Accommodations Policy” introduced by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2004. Stanford’s policy is believed to be only the second of its kind. Under the policy, pregnant graduate students are eligible for an “academic accommodation period,” in which they can postpone their academic requirements for two quarters before and after childbirth. During that period, the students are still enrolled full time and have access to student housing and health insurance benefits. The students also continue to receive funding through fellowships, teaching and research assistantships for six weeks. And the policy allows for a one quarter extension of departmental requirements and “academic milestones” for the student.