Hello everyone! I’m a doctoral candidate preparing to enter the academic job market in search of a tenure track job at an R1 or R2. However, my partner and I also hope to become parents soon. I would love to hear your opinions on what it might be like IF I were to be pregnant while (hopefully) attending campus visits and what not. I have asked people I am close to in my academic spaces and of course have gotten mixed responses. I’d really appreciate more conversation around what I might want to expect or maybe any advice? Perhaps someone who has gone through this could share their experience, if comfortable? Thank you in advance! ❤️
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I interviewed while 7 months pregnant. My situation was different from yours though, because I was already tenured at a different university, and the new job was basically a lateral move. Interview went well, I got the job, and we agreed on a start date after my maternity leave.
I’d advise to let the chips fall where they may. It could take a while for you to get pregnant (it took us a full year). Just apply and worry about the interviews later.
Just live your lives. You might take a while to get pregnant, you might or might not get invited to in person rounds, so just try for a baby & apply!
I would not advise you deciding to get pregnant, or not, based on this consideration. I mean it’s just a job. Life is more important.
I have seen pregnant women get hired at the top departments in my field all of the time. And frankly if I had the impression that someone’s chances of getting hired at department X were lower if they were pregnant that would be a red flag for a very toxic place.
Disclaimer: I’m a dude, so take my advice with a grain of salt. Or maybe a truckload of salt. On the other hand, I’ve been on at least a dozen TT hiring committees and been the person to make the offer for a dozen other ones.
I’m a tenure track assistant professor at an R1 and I recently went through the job market while pregnant. I did on campus visits and interviews in months 5-8 of my pregnancy and it was fine! In months 5 and 6 I still wasn’t showing so I didn’t disclose that I was pregnant in my interviews then, and it never came up. In month 7 it became a little more apparent that I was pregnant so I would proactively bring it up in interviews so people weren’t left wondering. I would make sure to emphasize that the baby was due in the summer and would definitely be ok and ready to teach in the fall if that was needed. Towards the end of month 7 and in month 8 I started developing some medical issues due to the pregnancy. In my interviews in that period I requested accommodations including to sit for the duration of my job talk and a shortened interview day with breaks to rest. Near the end, schools offered me the option to do a virtual campus visit and online interviews as I was on bedrest. One thing I didn’t realize was that because I had my baby right before joining I wouldn’t qualify for a tenure clock extension or teaching load reduction. Only after accepting an offer did I discover this was something I could have potentially negotiated so I wouldn’t recommend looking into that!
Balancing pregnancy and a job search in academia can be tricky. It’s best to know your rights regarding maternity leave before interviews, and prioritize places with supportive policies.
We hired someone who I really thought was pregnant during the job search. It turned out she just had a stomach bug! But glad it didn’t affect her chances because she’s a great colleague. Academic jobs are long term—I don’t think hiring committees should be biased based on a short term reality. But that isn’t to say everyone will take this view.