Academic job market and pregnancy

[Anonymous]

Okay, so this is a fairly specialized question, but here goes. I am hoping to go on the academic job market in fall of 2012 (we cannot move before fall 2013 due to husband's work commitment). I have a one-year-old now and am hoping to have a second child at some point but can't really imagine having the second child immediately or being on the job market with both a toddler and an infant. If I were fortunate enough to get an academic job, I wouldn't want to go on maternity leave immediately or wait until I've been there for a year or more due to fertility concerns. I am 36.5. Has anyone been on the academic job market while visibly pregnant or been on the other side on a hiring committee? I recognize pregnancy timing is an issue in every job search, but the long timelines for academic job searches make it worse.

[Anonymous]

No personal experience...but get thee to Chronicle of Higher Ed and its Balancing Work and Life forum!

[Anonymous]

I have not been in your situation, so I can't speak from personal experience. However, if you know you want another kid, at your age, I would not wait. It may be easy to get pregnant (esp. if it was easy the first time), but it may not be. Most people I know who had babies over 35 had at least one miscarriage along the way.

[Anonymous]

When you say you cannot move, so you are considering positions possibly outside the greater DC area, or perhaps another state?

[Anonymous]

One of my collegues went on job interviews while pregnant - one at Harvard. It did not affect the job offers. I got pregnant the month I started. If you have the baby after you start you get a year off your tenure clock for each child - which can help in the end depending on the length of the clock. IMO either works.

[Anonymous]

Agree with the Chronicle Work/Life Balance forum. There's a lot of good advice there.

There's no good time to get pregnant as an academic. That, plus the fact that tenure-track jobs are hard to obtain in any case, suggests to me that you should try to get pregnant sooner than later.

Maternity leave policies, btw, vary so much from place to place that you can't really make any decisions based upon them. Some offer no leave, some offer a semester or even a year (at half pay), many offer to stop the clock for a year, many will not offer paid maternity leave until you have already been there for a full year or two.

I would be concerned about resentment on the part of faculty. It's very hard to come to a place and have a baby right away without being mommy-tracked.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for the Chronicle Work/Life Balance recs -- it's exactly what I was looking for.

In response to 20:16, we are willing to move to other parts of the country but can't move for a couple years because of DH's job. Given my age, I know sooner is better to try for the second child. But I think a second child would strain our resources (emotional, financial, and logistical) right now.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, I'd try as early as you think you could handle 2. Going for interviews pregnant or with a newborn wouldn't be a picnic, but you wouldn't start work right away. By fall 2013 when you started work, you could have a 3-year-old (4-year-old?) and a 1-year-old. Life would be crazy but doable. And if you don't get a job that first year, you'd be moving on in your family life at least.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, good luck.

All my interview offers disappeared once my very pregnant state was revealed...

Interviews when somewhat pregnant are easy enough -- you just come off kinda fat and dumpy. Things get harder when you can't actually fly during the normal interview season, or if you have to bring a breast pump to your job interview.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree with the Chronicle Work/Life Balance forum. There's a lot of good advice there.

There's no good time to get pregnant as an academic. That, plus the fact that tenure-track jobs are hard to obtain in any case, suggests to me that you should try to get pregnant sooner than later.

Maternity leave policies, btw, vary so much from place to place that you can't really make any decisions based upon them. Some offer no leave, some offer a semester or even a year (at half pay), many offer to stop the clock for a year, many will not offer paid maternity leave until you have already been there for a full year or two.

I would be concerned about resentment on the part of faculty. It's very hard to come to a place and have a baby right away without being mommy-tracked.

I agree with this. All institutions are different in terms of leave, impact on tenure, etc., so keep that in mind. If you've had fertility issues, then just try to get pregnant. If you end up visibly pregnant when it's time to go on the market, I think I'd wait another year. I'm an academic and I don't find it to be a particularly good environment for pregnancy, leave, etc. But once you get the job, the flexibility makes it a very good job for someone with young kids. In the meantime, before you go on the market, work on whatever you need to do (writing, etc.) to make yourself more marketable. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you could fit another baby in before you'd be able to move. You wouldn't be too visibly pregnant this fall interview season and would already have delivered by the same time next year.

As a 40 year old pregnant academic-type, I've got to tell you: As much as you think another baby will tap your resources today (at 36), you have to factor in things like age/energy, new environment/adjustment pressures, and workplace drama into the mix. At least now you have familiar and predictable stresses. I fit two children into my doctoral program, which people thought was absolutely batty until they all entered the job market and found that they were looking at a four-year wait if they weren't going to seriously compromise their careers.

Besides, going in with children has its advantages, like loads of potential babysitters.