Former Prof Claims She Was Fired For Being A Mom
May 16, 2014 at 9:34 am
It’s hard out there for a PIMP – aka Professors In Mothering Positions. Former Penn assistant professor Kristen Stromerg Childers is filing a lawsuit against the university claiming that she was discriminated against because of her gender and child care obligations.
Appropriately named Childers is a mother of two, and during her time at Penn took two periods of maternity leave and one of family medical leave to take care of her child’s medical issues. When she was denied tenure for the second time in 2010, The Provost and Provost staff said that it was difficult to determine Childers’ productivity due to her time off. This was despite the fact that her tenure committee, the History Department, the SAS Personnel Committee and the Dean of SAS supported her application.
Penn profs – keep doing you. Whether you’re wrong or you’re right, it’s good to know that the people trying to teach us can be as outspoken as we can. For more details, check out the DP.