Does anyone have any advice?
I have an interview next week for my dream project, and I'm fairly confident that I am prepared for everything. But...I'm 34 weeks pregnant (meaning the child is basically sitting in my lap - no hiding in baggy clothes) and I'm really worried about how the interview panel might see this. If I am successful, he/she/it will be six months old before I enroll, and we have enough savings that my husband can stay home for at least a year, so childcare isn't an issue.
I suppose what I really want to know is, will anyone ask about my situation, and if they don't should I volunteer any information?
I want to seem professional, and I do feel that my family life is no-one else's business, but equally I don't want to lose out because my potential supervisor is imagining that I'm going to behave differently to any other student.
Help?

Hi there, congrats on getting an interview. Is it for a PhD studentship? Or a salaried research position? You are not legally obliged to disclose your pregnancy. I *think* it is also illegal for a potential employer to ask you (may be wrong on this though, so anyone, please advise if you knwo otherwise).

AS you are visibily pregnant though it puts a different emphasis on things. It may be worth discussing at interview what implications this would have on you commencing the project if you were successful. While your circumstances may be fine, there may be other constraints on the organisation (sponsorship requirements for example) to get the work done within a certain timeframe, etc.

Hi.
It's for a PhD studentship.
with the legality of asking, I haven't been able to find out. It's definitely illegal for an employer to ask, but since I'm not going to be 'employed' I really don't know.
I feel like the best thing to do is prepare a little statement - I'm lucky enough to have a stay-at-home dad to take care of the day to day baby stuff and it would probably be mad to not use this, but equally I'm a bit scared of seeming to be mumsy and unprofessional.
(by the way, this is baby number 2 and we did the same routine with my undergrad, so I know I can work well with distractions. I was going to say I can do coursework with teletubbies on tv and someone throwing up on my shoulder, but that was student life for most of my classmates anyway)

My opinion is, it would be best to say - as you have stated, you have a good solution to why it wouldn't interfere with your role as a PhD etc etc

By avoiding the subject during the interview when you are obviously pregnant, they are left to make the decision based on whether they think you'll stick to it - at the end of the day its very important to them that candidates finish the course.

At least if you discuss it, you'll have a chance to convince them - you've dealt with it before and could again. Plenty of people have children throughout their PhD's - you can even suspend your registration if you need extended time off - this means that you won't get paid during that time, but the time off doesn't count to the total time taken to do the PhD - depends if you can live without the money?


Good Luck

S

Good luck with the interview a Bee, and of course with the coming baby! It sounds as if you have an ideal situation with having a stay at home husband for child care. You might approach the situation from a time table approach, saying the child is due on x, and if I am accepted for the PhD, it would start on xy and so I would be well back on my feet and able to start on your proposed timetable. I don't think you have to be apologetic for having a baby or justifying that being a mum takes away from your professionalism. My suggestion would be an upbeat and matter of fact approach that simply gives them the information about your ability to start the PhD at a given time.

When I was at law school, the highest average marks went to women who were pregnant and gave birth during their studies! So there is no reason why having a baby is a detractor from academic pursuits. It is a sad statement that raising children is a woman's issue, rarely worried about by a man with a family going through interviews....your age is seen to be a hindrance in your child bearing years, and then a hindrance OUT of your child bearing years...you can't win!

Hi abee. I'm in my final year and had a baby in my second year. I took 2 years out in though as my husband has a heavy job and also travels a lot (my daughter is now in nusrery 3 days/week).

I think it's worth saying something about how you will handle your situation and that you have been through this before (perhaps framed as Olivia suggests). It's not all that uncommon for people to struggle or drop out when doing a PhD with a baby (or two) so although unvoiced, there may be concerns.

I'm finding this year quite challenging due to insufficient childcare and time to work. Will you have full time childcare at some point or will you husband be able to help out long-term?

I think it will be important to tell them about your plans as this shows you have thought about, and planned, a solution. They may be wary of bringing the subject up, because of discrimination angles etc. but if you don't tell them and they don't ask they may well assume that you intend to bumble through which may reduce your chances of getting the position. I worked with a professor once who was so sexist it was beyond a joke, but then he was in his 70s at the time so was from a less enlightened age. First thing he told me was that although I had been the best candidate they had appointed someone else first (I had to wait for more funding to be available)as they wanted a man. He was also against women with more than one child working, but of course he wouldn't get away with either position nowadays - I hope!

The Sex Discrimination Act does cover discrimination in access to education.
They really ought not to bring it up, but people often don't do what the law says, and it probably would help your case to explain your situation.
Although, personally, I don't think that anybody should give information about their family plans - doing so makes it more difficult for the people who don't wish to answer.

agreed!

I couldn't even figure out what Mellib meant..am I naive? Seemed like random bizarre words to me.

ooooh, I think my post has been removed - sorry forum admin!

melib was just being rude and offensive to get a response I expect - as he/she has done on several posts previously

Must be bored!

Thanks for all the replies. It's helpful just to hear that it's a real issue that I should address, not my feminist paranoia (which has been well-honed by my undergraduate experience. I'm from a department so sexist that they wouldn't grant an extension when my baby was in *intensive care* because 'everyone here has to fit their work around their lifestyle'. Later on they tried to refuse an exam deferment to one of my classmates who was due to give birth a week after exams because normal pregnancy is not a medical problem.)
Tactically, I like the calendar approach (thanks, olivia) and I think I'll go with that, although I agree that no-one should be questioned on their family choices in the first place.
Apart from that I have to do some reading, find some clothes that still fit me and try really hard not to go into labour .

P.S. My husband pointed out yesterday that my name is unisex and all communication has been by email, so unless they've looked at the middle name on my application they could well be expecting to see a man anyway. Not sure if this is better or worse...