Supporting Pregnant Students Within the Online Classroom Using Title IX

Introduction

Nearly 25 years ago, Sally suffered a miscarriage during graduate school. It was a traumatic experience and one that left her scared and in the hospital for three days. However, on Thursday night, she had a class and an essay due. The fear of asking for a due date extension due to the miscarriage was too much, so despite just getting home from the hospital on Wednesday, she finished the essay, drove the hour-long one-way drive to campus, and attended the three hour class with her essay in hand.

Main Item

Sally's experience was one of the authors' own personal experiences, but this is not isolated to the author. Situations such as this happen frequently in higher education. Fortunately, using the umbrella of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, more and more universities are providing accommodations related to childbirth and pregnancy to students.

Everyone should be afforded the opportunity for an education equal to those of their peers, regardless of sex or gender, and Title IX serves to ensure this equality. Specifically, Title IX states that "no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance" (U.S. Department of Education, 2021, para. 1). Title IX covers many areas, including but not limited to educational admissions, employment, and treatment of pregnant students. So often we think of disabilities in terms of learning, behavioral, and physical disabilities, but issues related to pregnancy and childbirth can be significant and interfere with a student's ability to receive an equal education to those of their peers.

This essay's focus will be the online classroom and ways that instructors can provide support and appropriate accommodations to their students experiencing issues related to pregnancy or childbirth. In addition, this essay will use the term "pregnancy" or "pregnant student" to refer to all pregnancy related issues, including the period after childbirth as well as the father's needs to support the mother during any pregnancy and childbirth related issues.

Consider This Example:

A student dealing with nausea in the mornings struggles to complete assignments because even though she feels better in the evenings, she works in the evenings or has other responsibilities. If that student's only free time is in the morning but they struggle with nausea during that time, then they are at a tremendous disadvantage. However, students are entitled to accommodations under these and other similar circumstances. Oftentimes, though, students are afraid to ask for these accommodations. This fear is understandable given some of the consequences these students have experienced. For example, a student at Salt Lake Community College was advised to drop her class after she revealed that she was struggling with morning sickness (Afshar, 2022). The student filed a complaint with the US Department of Education, which determined that Salt Lake Community College violated Title IX when its instructor encouraged this student to drop a course because she was pregnant, did not engage in an interactive process to provide her with academic adjustments or necessary services during her pregnancy, and did not excuse her pregnancy-related absences or allow her later to submit work following those absences might even be afraid to reveal that they are pregnant or approaching childbirth (Ashfar, 2022).

In addition to being fearful of revealing pregnancy related issues, many students are not even aware that Title IX covers issues related to pregnancy and childbirth. A national report by the Feminists for Life of America (2004), examined the resources available to pregnant and parenting college students and found that even though colleges and universities are required to publish information about Title IX on their websites, most pregnant students are generally unaware of the range of resources available to them. Colleges and universities are also required to train faculty and administrators in the accommodations allowed for pregnant students, and universities should offer assistance and resources to pregnant students through a Title IX Coordinator/Office. Still, without the diligence of instructors and counselors, many students will remain in the dark regarding the accommodations and resources available to them. Referring students to the Title IX office on their campus ensures that the pregnant students receive equal educational opportunities as non-pregnant students. Ideally, the Title IX Coordinator and instructor work together to ensure the pregnant student is receiving accommodations as needed.

According to Madden (2018), "many pregnant and parenting students perceive themselves as a deficit to the college, and a burden to the classroom" (p. 380). This is disheartening. Changing this perception and supporting students in the online classroom should be a primary goal for instructors. Reaching students and helping them access resources can be done through a variety of strategies: privately messaging or emailing the student to inform them of Title IX and offer assistance, posting helpful links for all class members, reaching out to students if they are falling behind, and sending reminders about missing work, accommodations, and assistance.

Certainly, attending an online college or university offers numerous benefits to parenting students. Madden's study (2018) found that participants who took online courses did feel less "spotlighted" for their mothering identity. This is not enough, however. Students should not feel that they can more easily hide their pregnancies in an online course. Instead, they should feel free to mention this in the class introductions and discussions. In our online courses at University of Phoenix, students introduce themselves in a Week 1 discussion thread. Students often share that they are pregnant, which provides instructors with an ideal opportunity to reach out to these students with a congratulatory attitude, share valuable resources, and explain their accommodations under Title IX. Included below is a sample of the type of message we send students who reveal to us that they are a pregnant student:

Hi [Student Name],

I hope this note finds you well! I noticed in your class introduction that you are expecting a baby. Congratulations! I wanted to let you know that pregnant students are covered under a federal law called Title IX ("Title Nine"). If pregnancy symptoms ever make it difficult to complete your work, please let me (or future instructors) know.

Title IX allows you to receive extensions on assignments and missed participation. Title IX is the only time our school allows students to make up missed participation. If this ever occurs, it is important to let your instructor know, so he or she can help you out with any missing points or assignments. It is helpful to send a note at the start of each course to your instructor letting him or her know about your pregnancy. If you ever need supporting documentation for pregnancy accommodations, you would work with someone from the Title IX office directly (instructors will not ask for this information).

Please let me know if you have any questions. Once again, congratulations!

[Instructor Name]

Imagine how students receiving a message like this would feel -- hopefully encouraged and grateful to know that their instructors are rooting for them and willing to help them with accommodations and resources. In closing, this is the type of learning environment we want all of our students to experience -- one that is warm and welcoming. Students who are pregnant or recently experienced childbirth should never fear revealing this information to their instructors. In addition, accommodations allowed by Title IX should be enforced to ensure equal educational opportunities for all students.

References:

Hesse-Biber, S. N., & Yaiser, M. L. (2004). Feminist perspectives on social research. New York, USA: Oxford University Press.

Madden, M. (2018). Illuminating Low-income Pregnant and Parenting Student Mothers' Experiences with Community College. Equity & Excellence in Education, 51(3/4), 378-395.

UOPX Pregnant and Parenting Policy.

U.S. Department of Education. (2021). Title IX and sex discrimination.

McLaughlin, A. (2014). Fortieth anniversary of title IX: Rethinking educational opportunity for pregnant and parenting students. School Social Work Journal, 39(1), 34-50.

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Cite This Page (APA): Kristin Basinger and Lauren Critchley: Full Time Faculty College of General Studies University of Phoenix. (2023, August 11 - Last revised: 2023, September 17). Supporting Pregnant Students Within the Online Classroom Using Title IX. Disabled World. Retrieved September 20, 2024 from www.disabled-world.com/disability/education/pregnant-students-ada.php

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