It was nearly a year ago that Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo, announced on Twitter that she and husband Zachary Bogue were expecting their first child. A veritable media circus prevailed culminating in her infamous 2-week maternity leave. I’ll leave it to tech pundits to debate the success of Ms. Mayer’s tenure but she certainly hasn’t been idle, with an aggressive shopping spree that culminated in a recent $1.1 billion acquisition of Tumblr. Yes, and she managed all this with an infant at home. Surely, many parents with demanding careers can relate to the daily chaos of sleepless nights mixed with professional stress. Thankfully, the media’s fascination with how a high-powered CEO manages to “have it all” has disappeared and in my view, this success story should be celebrated.
Unfortunately, the impact of this decision to appoint a pregnant woman to the role of CEO hasn’t produced the impact I would have hoped. I searched long and hard but haven’t seen any other cases of pregnant women being offered C-level roles, never mind the top job. How long before a photo of a pregnant woman graces the cover of Fortune or Forbes?
In fact, the question of whether or not to reveal your pregnancy while applying for a new role or promotion hasn’t gone away. Logically speaking, pregnancy lasts only a few months but can still be perceived as a long-term handicap. Personally, having a baby increased my enthusiasm for work and I pushed myself to take bigger career risks after each one. That being said, I also waited almost five months before admitting to colleagues that I was pregnant with my second child in order to keep my professional options open at a critical time in my career.
While I don’t approve of deception, there remain good reasons to keep news of your pregnancy quiet. Data by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission showed the number of pregnancy-related discrimination cases have been steadily rising since 1997.
In the UK, a recent poll showed that 1 in 7 women were made redundant while on maternity leave with over 1 in 10 reported being replaced by the person who covered their leave.
A recent report by the DC-based National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) reported that even though three-quarters of women entering the labour force will be pregnant and employed at some point in their lives, many employers refuse to make even basic accommodations, especially in low-wage roles.
“I think a pregnant women should be able to (acknowledge her pregnancy in an interview) and it should not affect the decision, but in reality it will affect the hiring decision and I think most women wouldn’t mention it,” said Cathy Gallagher-Louisy, director of Community partnerships and knowledge services at the Canadian Institute of Diversity and Inclusion.
“There are many men who still express concerns about hiring or promoting women of childbearing age – lest they get pregnant and ‘abandon their responsibilities at work’,” said Ms. Gallagher-Louisy, who acknowledged she heard a man in a senior leadership role use that exact phrase recently.
This scenario of when — or if — to divulge news of a pregnancy played out recently for one senior manager at a large financial services firm in Canada.
The mother of one with a 15-year tenure at her firm, who prefers to remain anonymous, encountered a compelling opportunity and decided to apply for it.
When she realized her pregnancy was progressing normally and was invited to a third interview with a senior vice president, she felt torn and sought the advice of friends and professionals. She decided to share the news with the hiring manger and offered to be flexible with her maternity leave. In the end, she didn’t get the role.
“Many people told me not to say a word and a few were convinced being honest was the only way to go to ensure a good relationship with a future hiring manager,” recalled the senior manager.
“I am happy I did tell, however, I will always wonder if I would have had that job if I wasn’t pregnant and could hit the ground running and stay on … I will never know for sure.”
So how should a pregnant woman navigate a job interview?
Some out of the box thinkers, such as Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, believe employees should speak more freely about their family goals with their managers and I hope one day we progress to that stage.
Until then, other experts counter with more practical advice.
“It would be naive to think that a current or future boss isn’t going to judge you more critically than they would a non-pregnant candidate or employee. So make sure you are ready to impress,” advised Boston-based Liz O’Donnell, the author of the forthcoming book, Mogul, Mom & Maid: The Balancing Act of the Modern Woman and founder of the Hello Ladies blog. “Bring your A+ game,” she added.
If you are early in your pregnancy, don’t feel any obligation to over share.
“If you’re not showing, you don’t need to address your pregnancy. Be confident that you are the right person for the job and wait until you accept the offer to start discussing your leave,” said Ms. ‘Donnell.