When we found out we were pregnant a few weeks ago, with our second child, we felt the usual mix of emotions - happiness, anxiety, excitement. The typical questions emerged: How and when to tell family and friends? And how will I tell my dean and department chair that I'm going on maternity leave again for the second time in less than three years - keeping in mind that maternity leave at our institution is 12 paid weeks off, and tends to coincide, or at least will for me this time, with an entire semester's absence? How will my colleagues react to the news that I will now have two children under the age of 3, so close in proximity to my tenure review?
The good news is that in my mind I built up the conversations with my administrators to be much more tense and stressful than they ultimately turned out to be. Both of them - women without children who make strong efforts to understand both the joys and limitations of motherhood - reacted with genuine happiness for me. There wasn't a note of hesitation or concern in their voices.
A sense of relief came over me quickly after those conversations. Now I can only hope that as the fall semester begins in a few weeks and I start to "show", others in my school will be equally as generous with their reactions.
I should add that one of my doctoral students whose dissertation I am chairing, upon hearing the news of my pregnancy, only responded with one word: "Again?" That's exactly the kind of response that perpetuates anxiety among those of us who choose to have more than one child in academe. If you have one, well, that's okay; if you have two, well, that's just excessive.
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4 comments:
congratulations!
Thank you very much for sharing the wonderful news!!! I am a new mother, but always thinking about my second child. I wish you and your family the best!!!
Congrats Athena! We can't be more excited for you and your family.
Yet, you do have an interesting situation here. I was told a few years ago that you can have one child on the tenure track, but don't think about having two. I have even heard of one woman who left her institution because she felt retaliation after having two children on the tenure track. What do you think they will say?
I subscribe to an H-Net list for women's history and here's a relevant query that came up today. I have been lurking without comment here for a month or two (I've got 4 school-age children and am just starting a tenure-track job) and I thought maybe you folks might have some advice for Prof. Manning so she can go into her conversation with the dean with some experienced advice.
She writes:
Subject: Personal query: Academic women and maternity leave
From: ManningKeriL@sau.edu
Date: Sun, August 10, 2008
Dear all,
I have a question that deals not so much with scholarship as with academic life. I would very much appreciate hearing how other women in higher education -- and their institutions -- may have managed having a baby during an academic term. I am currently pregnant, due February 10, right in the midst of Spring 2009 semester, which runs from mid-January to early May. I am entering my 5th year in a tenure-track position, and am in good standing. However, the university where I am employed does not have an official maternity leave policy for faculty members. We all teach a 4/4 load, and the courses I will be teaching in the spring have already been added to the registrar's page, though I'm sure it would be possible to change days and times.
I realize that I am of course entitled to 6 weeks unpaid leave via FMLA, but my husband and I cannot go without my paycheck. I will have to work out the details with my dean and I am curious to know what others have done in similar situations. I would like to have a few good possible plans in mind before I meet with the dean.
Many thanks,
Keri Manning
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