Pregnant and parenting students may face harassment and bias (conscious or not) from faculty or classmates. Title IX prohibits the harassment of students based on sex, which includes pregnancy, childbirth, and related conditions. Faculty must not harass or discriminate, and must not permit either to occur in their classrooms.
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Title IX requires that students’ absences relating to pregnancy, childbirth, related conditions, and recovery therefrom be excused when such absences are medically necessary (or covered under your school’s maternity or disability leave policy, if it has one). This law applies regardless of your own typical attendance policy. You may not penalize a student for taking this leave; the student must be allowed to return to her studies in the same status as when she went out on leave. To that end, students must be given an opportunity to make up any credits missed because of qualifying pregnancy- or childbirth-related absences. Finally, you cannot ask for a physician’s note unless you do so for students who need absences for medical reasons unrelated to pregnancy.
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Title IX requires your institution to provide pregnant students with at least the same special services as it provides to students with temporary disabilities. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other federal law requires your institution to provide reasonable accommodations to qualifying students with disabilities, including disabilities related to pregnancy and childbirth. Some students may request accommodations through your institution’s ADA office, and others may come to you directly. Follow your college’s procedures, and when in doubt, contact the Title IX and/or ADA offices.
Examples of pregnancy-related conditions and accommodations are available here.
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In addition to Title IX, any student employees that you supervise are also protected by various employment laws. Such laws guarantee non-discrimination in the workplace, provide job-protected leave for pregnancy and childbirth, and require accommodation of pregnancy-related conditions.
For more information, see “Working at School While Pregnant or Parenting.”
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For more guidance on how to discuss and plan for a staff member’s upcoming parental leave, see this article from The Pregnant Scholar’s Joan C. Williams in the Harvard Business Review.
Title IX provides several mechanisms for ensuring that institutions follow the law. Report and/or reform departmental and institutional policies that discriminate on the basis of sex, pregnancy, related medical conditions (including abortion), or based on parental, family or marital status. Reports can be made to your campus Title IX coordinator.
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