Some women find themselves pressured to use fellowships and sabbaticals as maternity leave. One junior faculty member in sociology, who timed the birth of her baby for April, just as the quarter was ending, thought she would have this summer off and then have relief from teaching one course in the fall. But when she secured a fellowship that would give her relief from teaching a second course in order to do research, her dean pressured her to give back the teaching relief that the university had already awarded her. Only after the woman balked did the university agree not to renege on its original offer. She says she plans to use her fellowship to do research, and that is why she complained when the university wanted to call it a maternity leave.
Some institutions do have policies that make new parents happy.
New parents can also stop the tenure clock if they take a leave. Still, many faculty members at Wesleyan plan their children's births for the late spring or summer. Stephen C. Angle and his wife managed to have two daughters within that window. Mr. Angle, an assistant professor of philosophy at Wesleyan, says the couple tried not to feel the pressure of planning the births, even though they knew that success would mean more time at home for Mr. Angle. For Renee C. Romano, the planning was intricate.