Not long ago I penned a piece about the “joy” of being pregnant in graduate school. What I neglected to cover in that article was the high price of being noticeably pregnant while on the job market, and beginning a career with a baby on the way. With students entering graduate programs at increasing rates, women are beginning to surpass men in graduate school enrollment numbers. Many of these women are in prime child-bearing years, and after postponing building their family while in school, some find themselves expecting toward the end of their graduate school career — putting them in the complex situation of being pregnant while on the academic job market.
Although a woman who is currently employed and becomes pregnant has (limited) legal protections afforded to her in the form of FMLA, there is little protection for a woman searching for a job while pregnant. While it is illegal for a potential employer to ask a woman about pregnancy or family status during a job interview, there is no mechanism in place to prevent an employer from drawing their own conclusions, particularly if a protruding stomach leaves little question as to the situation.
In a 2004 interview, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump blatantly (and insensitively) said what many employers where probably already thinking. Pregnancy, says Trump, “is a wonderful thing for the woman … it’s certainly an inconvenience for a business.” Although not generally compared with “big business,” universities and other academic institutions might fit into this category when it comes to hiring pregnant potential employees. There is little doubt that a pregnant woman on the job market might be viewed as an “inconvenience.” Some trades can be flexible when it comes to hiring a pregnant employee, but academic jobs, running on strict semester schedules, often find difficulty with accommodating pregnant instructors.
I found out I was unexpectedly pregnant a few months before graduating from my Ph.D. program. Happily married, and planning to eventually have kids in the future, my husband and I were shocked to discover our path to parenthood would be happening sooner rather than later. Already aggressively chasing a competitive job market, my newfound pregnancy put me in an interesting position as I commenced my quest for work. Initially, I considered postponing my job search for a year until after my baby was born, but with a pile of student loans that were shortly coming due, and grossly inadequate health insurance, I realized that then, more than ever, I desperately needed to land gainful employment.
My preliminary job search and correspondence with universities began as I assume most ABD (all but dissertation) students would. I applied for a multitude of positions all over the country, and received over-the-phone or Skype interviews for roughly half. Of those that I had continued interviews with, I was invited to several on-campus visits. All of a sudden dread set in. At five months pregnant, I had a growing belly and all of the symptoms that accompany a stereotypical pregnancy, including morning sickness, cravings, fatigue and a bladder that needed to be emptied every 30 minutes. Furthermore, my delivery date was the last week of August, making my baby due right around the first week of fall semester.
I spent my nights doing research on my rights as a pregnant woman, and learned that I did not have to disclose my pregnancy during job interviews, employers could not ask me if I was pregnant and they legally could not deny me employment due to my being pregnant. All of this looks great on paper, but as I learned throughout my interviews, what’s on paper does not necessarily play out in real life.
I accepted invitations to three on-campus interviews. The first university I interviewed at I made no mention of my pregnancy. I carefully selected clothes that were baggy, moved up a shoe size to mask my swelling feet, and ate very little in an effort to curb my nausea. The interview went very well, until the department chair asked if there was any reason that I would not be able to start my job in the fall. I was unprepared for that question, and my uneasiness surely raised some red flags. I vaguely replied that “I intended to work as soon as circumstances would allow.”
