manifesto for maternity leave on CV

[1106]

I am starting to note my maternity leave on my CV when applying for jobs (I'm an assistant prof looking for another job).

Colleagues based in the US have advised me not too - even highly sympathetic senior women. Colleagues in other parts of the world (mainly W. Europe, UK, and Canada), including deans and people in high admin positions, cannot understand why it's an issue, and think it's obvious to list maternity leave on a CV.

It's time to make this normal in the US too. It pisses me off that it's treated like a dirty little secret. I have decided that I am always going to list it in my employment history.  It's on my CV now and is not going anywhere.

For those of you on search committees, can you please shut down any colleague who raises an eyebrow when a woman - gasp - openly mentions in an application that she has taken leave after the birth (or adoption) of a child? Same if a male candidate mentions that he took paternity leave.

[Bad idea]

I just took paternity leave, and I think this is a bad idea. Not because of discrimination against family leave per se, but because any non-standard CV line signals that you don't understand professional conventions and might be under-professionalized.

If leaves, medical, family, or otherwise, explain issues in timeline or holes on your CV then your best bet is to address it briefly in the cover letter.

[styles]

As an advanced prof, I see no reason why you can’t add a line noting personal leave (giving the date range) and quickly (1 sentence) noting it in your research statement. Don’t dwell on it, just note it and move on.

The problem with only noting it in your letter is that many faculty only use CVs to make the “first pass,” especially when there are lots of apps. I can assure you that one thing that faculty look for when viewing CVs is not only the # and quality of pubs but also trajectories in pubs (increase/decrease, steady, gaps, etc). Without any stated explanation, a gap could result in the faculty questioning the applicant’s ability to sustain an active research program.

I personally wouldn’t look at noting parenting leave as strange or unprofessional (even if it is not common in the US) and, in the end, I’d rather have someone view it as strange/unprofessional rather than questioning my ability to sustain an active research program. Showing that you produced before (and/or after) your leave is the important thing.

Certainly, as I’m not naïve to this matter, there will be some individuals with their personal views and biases but you can’t avoid these folks no matter what you do.

Power to the paternity manifesto

[here here]

There is no bad idea here - this ought to be integrated into what is considered a profesionally normal CV.

And I agree with the above poster. It's better to signal that one did not publish 4 articles X year because one was caring for an incredibly dependent and needy newborn, rather than letting others come up with some theory about your productivity due to misinformation or lack of information.


I've been on the job market for several years now, during which I had kids, and I regret not noting parental leave on my CV. I will as of now.

[agree]

I would definetely put it in the CV if it applied to me. I am a male, though, and I haven't had the benefit of paternity leave. I do wonder if it would make sense to mention paternity leave given that it is usually more limited (a course reduction or at most a semester off). People would probably assume the dip should not be so noticeable and that your are making up excuses (although obviously the toll of paternity can be much larger than a semester).

[runner]

logistically, where do you put this? in the "appointments" section at the top? the purpose here is to be visible, though this seems like maybe TOO visible / too highlighted a place.

[the line]

im not a troll i promise, but im wondering where our European friends the OP spoke of draw the line in listing family related explanations for decreased productivity. for example, what do they write if they didn't get maternity / paternity leave? i had to go back to work two weeks after my daughter was born when the school year began because grad student lecturers didn't get maternity leave. So should I just note somewhere on my CV that I had a kid to shead light on why i only have one pub from my diss so far? And what about a colleague who's mother is ill and she's been taking care of her on top of work and her own kids? That's made her productivity dip; do Europeans note time taken to care for older parents on CVs like the OP said they list time off to care for kids? I'm just wondering where the line is regarding what time off/productivity affecting life events they indicate and what they don't.

[Anony]

It seems like having a child can be something a letter writer can mention.