Gina Wesley-Hunt, a post-doctorial student's story

Getting fired for having a baby was not in my career plans. I was on the well-worn academic path toward a career in research and teaching as a Professor when I was suddenly and cruelly derailed from this goal. While at the Smithsonian as a post-doctoral researcher (a temporary academic job between graduate school and a permanent academic position), my husband and I decided to start a family. When I announced to my boss that I was going to have a child and that I wanted to discuss schedules and research priorities as well as my 12 weeks leave (without pay), I was told that my two-year postdoctoral position would be terminated at one year, which roughly coincided with the due date of my child. My initial reaction was disbelief and sadness. That soon changed to a powerful anger. How dare they?

When you are discriminated against so many emotions grip you. It becomes hard not to accept that they are right: You can’t do it; You aren’t good enough; Pregnant women are silly and incapable beings; Once you have the child, of course you will want to be with your child every second; You couldn’t possibly leave your child for a research trip, that would be too cruel to ask of you. I had to shake myself out of it, and derail those negative thoughts. I braced myself against the discrimination by posting above my desk two quotes from Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, herself an academic and a mother: “You have a right to a whole life”; and “Well-behaved women seldom make history”. In addition a wonderful friend sent me a card with the famous World War II image of the women showing her muscle with the title “You can do it”. With these above my desk and the support of my family as well as my undergraduate and graduate mentors, I began my fight.

The outrageous part is that I had no extenuating circumstances. My husband and I had a home, we could afford day-care and my husband was willing to be the primary caregiver so I could pursue my career if the situation arose. If I could not be successful in achieving a permanent academic research position and have a family, who could? I felt like I had been duped.

Before meeting with my bosses to tell them of my pregnancy, I had done my homework. I had called the office that deals with postdocs and the equal opportunity office. Both informed me, to my dismay, that there was no policy at the Smithsonian to protect me. The problem was that I was not an employee. As far as the Smithsonian was concerned, I was completely at the mercy of my boss. Even after I had been fired for getting pregnant the Smithsonian was consistent in their disregard for my rights. The equal opportunity office refused to accept a formal complaint and offered no assistance. I was even told by a high level administrator that my bosses acted within their rights as far as the Smithsonian policy was concerned, and I was naive to try to change the policy.

After a month of speaking out to anyone who would listen, the Smithsonian lawyers were made aware of what occurred and forced my bosses to reinstate my position. However, it was made obvious to me that I would be under constant scrutiny and that the work environment would be very negative. I decided to resign and pursue my career elsewhere. I also decided to keep fighting for a policy change. I was going to do what ever it took to prevent this from ever happening again.

I am happy to report that my story is a successful one. I have a permanent academic position starting this fall and the Smithsonian has adopted a new non-discrimination policy. The policy now covers everyone associated with the Smithsonian, not just employees, and highlights pregnancy discrimination as a form of sex discrimination. In addition, the equal opportunity office is now required to accept complaints and formally assist anyone associated with the Smithsonian – not just employees. While this is a huge step in the right direction, there is still no provision to allow for family medical leave, a serious issue that affects both women and men on the academic track.

I was able to pursue my campaign to change the policy at the Smithsonian because of the National Women’s Law Center. They agreed to represent me and then enlisted the considerable resources of a large law firm, all at no charge to myself. Because of this support I felt empowered to put my career on the line to do whatever it took to nudge us a bit closer to equality. My career was in danger as the academic community is small and a backlash was a real possibility. However, it was worth the risk and in my case I do not think my advocacy hurt my career in terms of personal relations with colleagues. My advocacy did cost me half of my family’s income for 15 months and I did loose a prestigious postdoc that could have lead to a more prestigious and higher paying job than the track I am on now. That said, I am very satisfied with how it all worked out, and I am excited at the direction my career and my life is headed.