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Abstract

during the war or their incapacity to join post-war. Regardless, this turned out to be a good thing — not without the discriminatory challenges that still prevail in today’s world.</p><p id="856f">Despite our declaration of advancement as a society, a pregnant woman in the corporate world still holds a stigma that prevents them from advancing. This holds true and is much more compounded when that woman is pregnant<b> and</b> Black (African and non-African).</p><h2 id="5956">What do the Studies Show?</h2><p id="8007">A <a href="https://watermark.silverchair.com/kqr198.pdf?token=AQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_Ercy7Dm3ZL_9Cf3qfKAc485ysgAAAl0wggJZBgkqhkiG9w0BBwagggJKMIICRgIBADCCAj8GCSqGSIb3DQEHATAeBglghkgBZQMEAS4wEQQM6NxALHB9dYbTPhbvAgEQgIICEI8vfToqNsrMixdxmfvQwXHbyq1U_jHMBZ_Bq9H2PMKWUVlPqv8U3VGhh6Vq-uafkAXR7G2ERIuVB-UzmbLD1226faQcUQjmMtjc4XQgWq4g6nhMTann3KZY3fFs9ZAO6GHejGuZFwp1tYuUhvLz6sGvCs_eySgL_MRrvIWFnCzoMaFQ5oC4RzuWb4UJCF7dmGDhp18gQZVcyYFAs5U22gkXU0A4tACFABByY6X_g_U3oZc8imTCKT3ko9PDDWNUnov75JVfGBK-O1XEddhYPZYtwuWz3oybDAcYQ8tauivukEkIxgF2fStn4qDql7lsyDFPN9vzwPzMdIG8AvUTuq3OgrI4E_aoBEYTBih4Qcf9hyYPhHstRze-nRP3NuexmAAAl_j2F-X5mn4nc8AmAxcPTVXwLHJmvf8BGA5z8fOTlappQZOkLMgyEXC9fY-wn6B3SugrhiR-_XnqhJ9ttl8v6OEgGejD_nMQsG8IBGFV6bePvD79Xw8HIiqh3AV994g5-jb-_vbsa4opvKaLRZwM-d9qJB4hVefpHprY1eo9r-tayCjy_3dzN8x2Mk3Pfy2ijI9oijTwkU-xiyhro_xoN0Ub26DLlYqFiOCLGBECfig1q-kIzIprHKVg4FDxM4hOZ1zjbYpFmaKdcDvniX0tFuPpSyaduAZcbyvegfCCP1gZdu2idrFVj9c9lZedKg">review in the Occupational Medicine journal</a> stated that between the years 1992 and 2007, there has been a 65% increase in pregnancy-related complaints, compared to sexual harassment and discrimination in the US alone. There have been numerous reported instances in the UK of women being terminated from their roles upon the discovery of their pregnancy post-hire, as well as recruitment-related discrimination of pregnant women.</p><p id="3e7f">Pregnant women are also more likely to be demoted upon their return to work, or have their career stagnated. Employers employ these strategies to prevent additional costs upon them, especially for women of child-bearing age. This seems bleak for us 20–30 something-year-olds.</p><p id="44c6">Although in the past, pregnant women were stereotyped as being ‘warm and incompetent’, this notion has slightly shifted. However, research by <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-007-9305-2">Masser, Grass, and Nesic (2007)</a> suggests that while pregnant women might be considered more warm and competent, they are still less likely to be considered for a role, compared to their non-pregnant counterparts. It will be interesting to see whether this stands true when broken down by race and/or ethnicity.</p><p id="d759">Interestingly, during performance evaluations, data suggests that while in the past, pregnant women were perceived more negatively in the workplace by both Supervisors and Co-workers; research by <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/25092499?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">Gueutal, Luciano and Michaels (1995)</a> demonstrated that, compared to their performance ratings before their pregnancy, as well as in comparison to those who were not pregnant, pregnant women are more likely to receive positive evaluations during performance appraisals. This suggests bias, begging the question of why this phenomenon exists at all.</p><p id="3c33">While again, the typical demographic of women in the corporate workforce con

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sists of White women, it might be that some of this phenomenon can only be generalized to them.</p><figure id="77a8"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/0*Muk1_-FMIT-DXSr_"><figcaption>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@daniellajardim?utm_source=medium&utm_medium=referral">Ella Jardim</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com?utm_source=medium&utm_medium=referral">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure><h2 id="b2a9">What about Black Women?</h2><p id="8ab9">This might very well be the case, as research by <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0361684315627459">Rosenthal and Lobel (2016)</a> found that women of African descent/Black women, were generally perceived more negatively, especially on domains related to sexual activity, sexual risk, motherhood status, and socioeconomic status, compared to their white female counterparts.</p><p id="11eb">Furthermore, when a Black woman was described as pregnant, she was more likely to be perceived as a single mother and in need of public assistance, compared to a White woman who was pregnant. This study was conducted on undergraduate students.</p><p id="67e4">Imagine the results if undergraduate students were substituted for working professionals in the study.</p><p id="620f">As I had mentioned in my previous articles <a href="https://readmedium.com/9-5s-dont-cut-it-anymore-4c99628b2a7d">here</a> and <a href="https://readmedium.com/race-gendered-based-profiling-in-employment-31ffa8238655">here</a>, marginalized groups (in which Black women belong to) are more likely to receive contracted or temporary roles. Black people, at least here in Canada — and these are those with a degree or some form of higher education — have one of, if not the highest rate of unemployment, which means that Black women, on average, are less likely to be insured, more likely to receive lesser pay and more likely to be unemployed in comparison to their White counterparts.</p><p id="742e">Given the higher turnover of contracted and temporary roles (both voluntary and involuntary) due to their expendability, this leads to greater job insecurity and unemployment for this category of women.</p><p id="6a21">This might also explain why the promotion rate is significantly less for Black women, compared to other races of women. According to the <a href="http://www.nationalpartnership.org/our-work/resources/health-care/maternity/black-womens-maternal-health-issue-brief.pdf">National Partnership</a> article published in 2018, and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277953611000566">Rosenthal and Lobel (2011)</a>, these studies demonstrated that Black women are more likely to have poorer maternal health outcomes, higher infant mortality, and lower median income.</p><p id="820a">Given the intersectionality of Black women’s challenges (i.e., based on their race and gender), Black women are also more likely to experience a greater variety of sources of stress, compared to their non-Black counterparts, which only precipitate adverse birth outcomes and health-related complications.</p><h2 id="a05e">My Point?</h2><p id="7ce5">All this to say, it sucks for professional working women to get pregnant, it sucks even more if you’re a black professional working woman who gets pregnant, and it sucks most if you are a professional working pregnant black woman in a male-dominant occupation or industry.</p></article></body>

Have Society’s Views Changed Toward Working Pregnant Women?

The outlook isn’t as positive as we’d hope

I dread the day when I’d check that indicator on that strip and it reads… positive.

Countless TV shows and other melodramas have shown me that sign. The sign that reminds you that you have a birth canal beneath your abdomen. The sign that sex-ed in middle school from long ago might have provided some vital information. The sign that reminds you that only half of the human race has the ability to carry another human being within them.

Pregnant.

As a working professional woman, I know that it is a nightmare for most. Whether we admit it or not. Not because pregnancy is a bad thing in and of itself, but because of the irrevocable changes that come along with it. 18 years confined to full-time devotion to another human being. And it better be done right — you don’t want them becoming destructive entities of society.

Not only is it dreadful to the woman, but it is also a problem within the workplace. I recall a couple of years ago during my HR program when one of my professors mentioned that the one thing an HR Department doesn’t want to hear, is ‘maternal leave’.

Yikes.

I mean, of course, having to find someone to ‘cover’ for the said individual for the course of the leave (and having to *gasp* pay them during their leave — their benefits package and everything else intact) proves to be a challenge… and an inconvenience. Not to mention costly.

And then the uncertainty that comes along with it; whether they might choose to return into the workforce or not. And some choose not to.

Are women punished by the corporate world for reminding them that an inner world can and does grow within them? For carrying another human being just above their vagina for more than half of the year? For being reminded that they are, in fact, women?

Photo by 🇸🇮 Janko Ferlič - @specialdaddy on Unsplash

After the second world war, and during the post-industrial era, women joined the workforce in drones. This was partly because of the significant loss of men during the war or their incapacity to join post-war. Regardless, this turned out to be a good thing — not without the discriminatory challenges that still prevail in today’s world.

Despite our declaration of advancement as a society, a pregnant woman in the corporate world still holds a stigma that prevents them from advancing. This holds true and is much more compounded when that woman is pregnant and Black (African and non-African).

What do the Studies Show?

A review in the Occupational Medicine journal stated that between the years 1992 and 2007, there has been a 65% increase in pregnancy-related complaints, compared to sexual harassment and discrimination in the US alone. There have been numerous reported instances in the UK of women being terminated from their roles upon the discovery of their pregnancy post-hire, as well as recruitment-related discrimination of pregnant women.

Pregnant women are also more likely to be demoted upon their return to work, or have their career stagnated. Employers employ these strategies to prevent additional costs upon them, especially for women of child-bearing age. This seems bleak for us 20–30 something-year-olds.

Although in the past, pregnant women were stereotyped as being ‘warm and incompetent’, this notion has slightly shifted. However, research by Masser, Grass, and Nesic (2007) suggests that while pregnant women might be considered more warm and competent, they are still less likely to be considered for a role, compared to their non-pregnant counterparts. It will be interesting to see whether this stands true when broken down by race and/or ethnicity.

Interestingly, during performance evaluations, data suggests that while in the past, pregnant women were perceived more negatively in the workplace by both Supervisors and Co-workers; research by Gueutal, Luciano and Michaels (1995) demonstrated that, compared to their performance ratings before their pregnancy, as well as in comparison to those who were not pregnant, pregnant women are more likely to receive positive evaluations during performance appraisals. This suggests bias, begging the question of why this phenomenon exists at all.

While again, the typical demographic of women in the corporate workforce consists of White women, it might be that some of this phenomenon can only be generalized to them.

What about Black Women?

This might very well be the case, as research by Rosenthal and Lobel (2016) found that women of African descent/Black women, were generally perceived more negatively, especially on domains related to sexual activity, sexual risk, motherhood status, and socioeconomic status, compared to their white female counterparts.

Furthermore, when a Black woman was described as pregnant, she was more likely to be perceived as a single mother and in need of public assistance, compared to a White woman who was pregnant. This study was conducted on undergraduate students.

Imagine the results if undergraduate students were substituted for working professionals in the study.

As I had mentioned in my previous articles here and here, marginalized groups (in which Black women belong to) are more likely to receive contracted or temporary roles. Black people, at least here in Canada — and these are those with a degree or some form of higher education — have one of, if not the highest rate of unemployment, which means that Black women, on average, are less likely to be insured, more likely to receive lesser pay and more likely to be unemployed in comparison to their White counterparts.

Given the higher turnover of contracted and temporary roles (both voluntary and involuntary) due to their expendability, this leads to greater job insecurity and unemployment for this category of women.

This might also explain why the promotion rate is significantly less for Black women, compared to other races of women. According to the National Partnership article published in 2018, and Rosenthal and Lobel (2011), these studies demonstrated that Black women are more likely to have poorer maternal health outcomes, higher infant mortality, and lower median income.

Given the intersectionality of Black women’s challenges (i.e., based on their race and gender), Black women are also more likely to experience a greater variety of sources of stress, compared to their non-Black counterparts, which only precipitate adverse birth outcomes and health-related complications.

My Point?

All this to say, it sucks for professional working women to get pregnant, it sucks even more if you’re a black professional working woman who gets pregnant, and it sucks most if you are a professional working pregnant black woman in a male-dominant occupation or industry.