Pregnancy Discrimination

Pregnancy discrimination refers to the unfair treatment of women due to their pregnancy. Examples of pregnancy discrimination in the workplace include refusal to hire or promote pregnant women, denial of insurance coverage for pregnancy-related conditions, or terminating the contract of a pregnant employee. Such blatant discrimination is now [Page 1339]illegal in most instances in the United States, but more subtle discrimination continues to occur. Discrimination is related to attitudes toward women, stereotypic beliefs about gender and gender roles, and other social-cognitive processes. This entry introduces the U.S. laws and workplace regulations designed to prevent pregnancy discrimination and the social-cognitive processes that underlie discrimination. The entry concludes with recent examples of discrimination and a discussion of how it affects the psychology of women and women’s career ...