Understanding the Psychology of Pregnancy Discrimination as a Challenging Woman’s Mental Health Workplace Dynamic

Dina Lundy (), Darrell Norman Burrell (), Tracie McCargo (), Firmine Mimi Lima (), Natasha Harris (), Hilda Eke () and KerriLaine Prunella ()
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Dina Lundy: University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, USA
Darrell Norman Burrell: Marymount University, Arlington, VA, USA
Tracie McCargo: Harvard University, Harvard Extension School, Cambridge, MA, USA
Firmine Mimi Lima: Marymount University, Arlington, VA, USA
Natasha Harris: Marymount University, Arlington, VA, USA
Hilda Eke: Marymount University, Arlington, VA, USA
KerriLaine Prunella: Marymount University, Arlington, VA, USA

RAIS Conference Proceedings 2022-2025 from Research Association for Interdisciplinary Studies

Abstract: There remains a gap in the literature regarding labor and workplace dynamics for women regarding pregnancy discrimination. Women navigate environments that are tethered to gendered norms of productivity, work performance, and leadership. This article extrapolates the social as well as psychological systemology by which motherhood remains a liability to an organization’s bottom line leading to bias, exclusion, and differential treatment that, necessarily, has negative implications on both mental health and career longevity for women. We draw upon interdisciplinary literature from organizational psychology, feminist theory, and occupational health, to unpack the ways in which stereotypes, circumjacent to competence, commitment, and physical ability, inform decision-making, by leadership, as well as interactions with colleagues during pregnancy. This article explores how future-oriented bias, heightened surveillance, and unorthodox disciplinary methods—such as stalled promotions, role reallocation, social marginalization, and disproportionate consequences—lead to psychological stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms, stereotype threat, and diminished psychological safety for women. Particular scrutiny is lent to the role of organizational culture in codifying these practices which orientate pregnancy as an individual inconvenience rather than a structural condition and a human right that requires supportive systems. This paper further examines how women engage in identity management planning, self-censorship, as well as hyperperformance, to mitigate imagined risk, at the expense of one’s mental health. This paper argues that pregnancy bias and discrimination are not merely legal or policy nonfeasance, but a form of psychosocial workplace oppression entrenched within the ranks of power further emboldened by cultural demands, and the lack of social status of women. The article concludes by outlining best practices for organizational leadership, mental health policy, and workplace design, underscoring the need for preemptive cultural interventions and accountability measures that prioritize mental health and assert that pregnancy, professional competence, and leadership can coexist.

Keywords: Pregnancy Discrimination; Workplace Discrimination; Mental Health; Organizational Culture; Gender Discrimination; Workplace Belonging; Workplace Psychological Safety (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 19 pages
Date: 2025-11
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Published in Proceedings of the 42nd International RAIS Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities, November 20-21, 2025, pages 211-230

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