Pregnant women need not apply
by Miki SaxonPost from Leadership Turn Image credit: danaloganphotography
Cynic that I am, I never really bought into the idea of “sisterhood” and that women supported each other because they were all in the same boat. Nice idea, but I just couldn’t swallow it, partly based on my own experience and partly on what I saw happen around me.
For all you doubters I offer more proof from a brief item in Business Week synopsizing a study in the Journal of Applied Psychology.
Researchers at George Mason and Rice universities had 105 people (56 men, 49 women) play the role of interviewer as nonpregnant and visibly pregnant candidates (the researchers, some wearing prosthetic bellies) “applied” for such [traditionally “male”] jobs as corporate lawyer and engineering professor… Hostility toward pregnant applicants was 33% higher than for the other women, with the “interviewers” agreeing afterward with such statements as “she’ll try to get out of doing work” and “she would be too moody.”
Complaints are up 14%, but probably would be higher if more women bothered.
But if that same 105 people had to answer the questions publicly or in front of an audience of predominantly pregnant women, I bet that the general hostility would evaporate, the attitudes change drastically and political correctness would shine through.
Is it right? No. Is it fair? No. is it reality? Unfortunately, yes.
Have you or someone you know experienced pregnancy bias?
What do you think can be done to change it?
Your comments—priceless
May 26th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Wow Miki, this is a tough question. Sometimes it’s our the subconscious that causes us to make these decisions, for what we probably tell ourselves are very good reasons.
I’ve never (knowingly) interviewed a pregnant woman, so I can’t tell you what I have done, I can only tell you that your article will cause me to be even more alert of my own biases when I interview people, so I can make the best hire possible.
Thanks for the thought-provoking article!
May 26th, 2008 at 11:28 am
Phil, thanks for stopping by. I’ve always believed that hyper-awareness is the only defense against unconscious attitudes or bias.
May 26th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Hi, Miki
In my side of the pond, my own experience has been, if the lady is in a visible stage of pregnancy, the interviewer is more solicitous. However, the hiring is postponed until after the delivery (if the lady is qualified). The postponement is because of the attendant costs which the company shoulders (i.e., paid maternity leave, absences because of difficult days, subsidy of c-section, etc).
May 27th, 2008 at 4:48 am
This explains so much. I could not get a job while I was pregnant, no matter that I was qualified. Combine my “condition” with the fact that I was living in a small, rural Utah town at the time (“Why do you need a job? What does your husband do?”), and everything becomes clear…
May 27th, 2008 at 8:46 am
Hi Ren, To be honest I don’t see a lot of difference. The woman who interviews at four months still doesn’t get a job and it seems unlikely that the company will keep the position open for 5 or more months. She still has no insurance, etc.
May 27th, 2008 at 8:51 am
Miranda, Isn’t it nice to know that pregnancy prejudice is alive and well in big cities, too? But tell me honestly, are you really surprised that your pregnancy affected your hireability? Especially in the environment you describe?
June 17th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
I am a state employee. Last year, I applied for a different position within State government. At the time I was 6 months pregnant. I made it to the second interview and was told that they would now select one person from the final three candidates. They hired someone else. I was very disappointed especially since the interviewer with the authority to hire was female. I did not want to believe that I did not get the job because of my condition. However, others in the profession (I am a lawyer) believed that I was turned down because I was pregnant and the interviewer needed someone right now and probably feared that she would fill the position and then have her assistant out for 3 months.
I guess the question truly remained open for me because my condition was never discussed. I wanted to bring it up but I did not want to appear like I was seeking special treatment.
In retrospect, I believe that I was not offered the position because I was pregnant.
June 17th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
I wish I could say you’re wrong, but I’d be lying. And discussing your condition during the interview is illegal.
The sad part is that it doesn’t change. The woman who interviewed you was probably treated the same way when she was pregnant.
January 20th, 2015 at 1:15 am
[…] findings in the article aren’t new or even that surprising (here are two more from 2008 and 2009); I heard similar comments more than 30 years […]