“I picked three months because that is what the state of California gives,” says department chair Dr. Richard Zare, who was responsible for implementing the policy.
Mahood says there are some specific reasons why the chemistry department chose to extend the leave time to 12 weeks. Chemistry graduate students are often exposed to chemicals during their coursework that are not safe for pregnant women.
It is somewhat unclear how many women will be affected by the policy change. Mahood believes the number will be fairly low, because only a small percentage of female graduate students become pregnant during this time. Gunnarsdottir, on the other hand, says many women postpone having children because of the difficulty balancing the two responsibilities. But she stands by her decision to have a child when she did.
“I think graduate school is a great time to have children. These are the prime child bearing years,” Gunnarsdottir says.
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