I was browsing the ScienceCareers.org forum yesterday and came across this thread about dealing with personal questions during a job interview. I've heard numerous stories similar to those related in this thread, including a couple of women who were asked during their graduate school interviews if they didn't just really want to stay home and have babies (including one who was asked this by a Nobel laureate). It's appalling that this kind of thing still happens, but it's a reality for women. The trick is how to answer those questions if they come up without alienating the interviewer. Some of the responses to this thread included taking off your wedding ring for interviews, and outright lying if asked about your marital status. I don't think I'm comfortable with that, but have yet to come up with a clever response to this line of questioning.
I was curious about the legality of questions like these, and was surprised to find that, "only 19 states prohibit employers from asking questions regarding marital/familial status during job interviews." But it's clear that these questions persist despite the existing laws, perhaps even more so in academia where they're less likely to be enforced.
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