Pregnancy Leaves Without Leaving
Dear friends of women in science,
In her series of articles in the Washington Post on Leadership, Jena McGregor wrote in February on how maternity leave doesn't necessarily mean stopping work: a woman can voluntarily or not end up working from home almost as much. You can read the article here. She cites examples including Marisa Mayer, CEO at Yahoo, who ingited controversy by saying she was pregnant shortly after being hired to turn around the company, then said she would take only a few weeks off and would work from home during that time.
McGregor explains that working from home can mushroom to unexpected dimensions that can interfere with the leave's purpose. One woman she describes received 20-30 urgent emails a day during both of her post-birth leaves. In one case, she had a child with a health problem but barely had time to deal iwth that due to the work pressures. McGregor notes, "Even if legal protections are in place for jobs while on maternity leave, a teetering economy can leave many women feeling nervous. They're not only willing to stay connected to work, they're afraid not to be. 'Job insecurity is pretty rampant,' says Ellen Galinsky" at Families and Work Institute.
it might seem that the employers are being demanding, but it seems to be the woman who breaks down the barriers to work that used to exist, out of fear in this weak job market. Especially women who've struggled to gain power are reluctant to turn over the reins to others. And McGregor notes, "when you're stuck in a chair nursing several hours every day, that smartphone can also feel like a much-needed lifeline to the outside world."
What do you think STEM women should do about this issue?
cheers,
Laura
Laura--
I think in our field, mo bio, it's dangerous to disappear for three months or so. You need to keep up with literature and the grapevine better than that. If you can stay in touch with the field, it's OK to keep your teaching and admin colleagues at arm's length during your preg leave, I'd say.
ENR
Hi Muriel,
That's an interesting take, that you need to teach your colleagues how to treat you on leave just like teaching your kids when they can't interrupt you, for example. I like it! Of course, each person interrupting with an urgent message has "no idea" about all the other messages. I like the plan of once a week responses, if you could stick to that. Anyone out there try setting limits? What kinds of reactions does one get? I guess my pregnancy leave with Heather, my younger child, was pre-messaging, pre-ubiquitous cell phones. Email was less pervasive, although it did exist.
cheers,
Laura
Hi Laura,
I think it's a potentially great idea to stay in touch while out on pregnancy leave, but if it starts interfering with the purpose of the leave, it's out of control. I think you could say you'll check your email once a week, for example, and not respond to "urgent" daily emails. It's like parenting. People will test your limits. If you have none, you'll have no leave.
Muriel
