The maternal body at work: women's experiences of accessing employment rights in relation to fertility, pregnancy and birth

该项目考察了妇女生育、怀孕、分娩和哺乳对就业的生理和心理影响，突出了雇主对孕妇和分娩后重返工作岗位的期望和提供方面的差距，这可能会阻碍妇女获得与生育有关的就业权利。在2019冠状病毒病大流行之前，研究表明，多达四分之三的新妈妈在怀孕或产假期间有过负面或可能受到歧视的经历，导致许多人离职。随着企业和组织试图适应新的经济环境，许多人担心经济衰退将导致新一波不公平的裁员和对孕妇和新妈妈的非法歧视，因此这项研究变得更加紧迫。与英国领先的产妇权利慈善机构“产妇行动”合作，这项研究将研究雇主期望、态度和法律理解与妇女生活现实之间的不协调，并寻求更准确地定位干预可能带来改变的地方。该项目将通过多种方法，包括可能对雇主和雇员进行的调查、焦点小组和在产妇行动的协助下对妇女进行的半结构化访谈，探讨妇女在试图获得就业权利时因生育治疗、与妊娠有关的疾病、妊娠期间的健康和安全问题、分娩和与分娩有关的问题以及母乳喂养等问题而产生的紧张局势。根据“产妇行动”分享的数据，至少有12%的支持热线电话与难以获得这些权利的妇女有关，这表明，一方面，雇主认为怀孕、分娩和母乳喂养的影响应该是什么，以及他们因此应该合理地期望他们做出哪些规定，另一方面，妇女在怀孕、分娩和母乳喂养期间身体变化的实际经历之间存在紧张关系。这与关于工作中的母亲身体的少量但不断增长的文献是一致的，这些文献指出，母亲的身体被视为卑鄙、漏水、凌乱、肉质和不可预测的东西，与我们与工作的理性、冷静和谨慎的联系形成鲜明对比，随后被边缘化。该项目将设法弥合雇主的看法和期望与妇女的经验之间的差距，并将与产妇行动的决策者、雇主、非政府组织、工会和法律专家组成的广泛网络合作，根据研究结果为政策和实践中的干预措施提出建议。该项目将加强产妇行动与玛丽女王学院商业与管理学院平等与多样性研究中心（CRED）之间的关系，两位主管是该中心的联合主任。CRED以社会正义和包容性原则为基础，在平等和多样性方面开展批判性学术研究，并寻求与非学术界合作，以产生研究影响。这一合作将使对平等、不平等和多样性的理论理解和辩论影响到当前公共政策的一个重要领域，即改善产妇权利、增加父亲对儿童保育的参与以及平衡母亲与就业。

This project examines the physical and mental impact of women's experiences of fertility, pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding on employment, highlighting gaps in employer expectations and provision for pregnant women and women returning to work after childbirth, which may prevent women from accessing maternity-related employment rights. Before the COVID-19 pandemic research showed that up to three-quarters of new mothers had a negative or possibly discriminatory experience during their pregnancy or maternity leave, leading many to leave their jobs. This research takes on a greater urgency as many now fear that economic recession will result in a new wave of unfair redundancies and unlawful discrimination towards pregnant women and new mothers as businesses and organisations seek to adjust to the new economic circumstances. In partnership with the UK's leading maternity rights charity Maternity Action, this study will examine the dissonance between employer expectations, attitudes and legal understandings and women's lived realities and seek to locate more precisely where intervention could bring about change. Through a mixture of methods, including a possible survey of employers and employees, focus groups and semi-structured interviews with women, facilitated by Maternity Action, this project will explore the tensions that arise for women when trying to access their employment rights as a result of, for example, fertility treatment, pregnancy-related illness, health and safety concerns in pregnancy, and birth and birth-related concerns as well as breastfeeding. According to data shared by Maternity Action, at least 12% of calls to its support line relate to women facing difficulties accessing such rights, pointing to tensions between what employers believe the effects of pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding ought to be, and the provisions they should consequently reasonably be expected to make, on the one hand, and women's lived experiences of the transformation of their bodies during pregnancy, birth and through breastfeeding on the other hand. This is in line with the small but growing literature on the maternal body at work which points to the ways in which maternal bodies are treated as abject, leaky, messy, fleshy and unpredictable things, contrasting with the rational, cool and measured associations we have with work, and subsequently marginalized. This project will seek to bridge the gap between employer perceptions and expectations and women's experiences, and will work with Maternity Action's extensive network of policy makers, employers, NGOs, trade unions and legal experts to develop recommendations based on the research findings for interventions in policy and practice. The project will strengthen the relationship between Maternity Action and the Centre for Research in Equality and Diversity (CRED) in the School of Business and Management at Queen Mary - of which the two supervisors are Co-Directors. CRED undertakes critical scholarship in equality and diversity, underpinned by principles of social justice and inclusivity, and seeks to engage with the non-academic community to produce impact from research. This collaboration will bring theoretical understanding and debate on equality, inequalities and diversity to bear on an important current area of public policy concerning the improvement of maternity rights, increasing fathers' involvement in childcare, and balancing motherhood with employment.