Case 15.3: Pregnancy as a Barrier to Job Status
Case synopsis and analysis
Marina Soslow is a successful senior managing director at a manufacturing company. She has
been there for 10 years and hopes to thrive at the company and become executive.
She recently learned that she was pregnant and was reluctant to tell her boss, Roy Bond. In the
past, several women had been eased out of their positions upon sharing pregnancy news. When
Learning objectives:
1. Students will recognize gender prejudice and understand how it influences a woman’s
ability to excel.
2. Students will learn methods to help resolve gender prejudice related to pregnancy.
Answers to questions in the text:
1. What advancement barriers is Marina encountering?
Marina encountered gender bias, stereotyping, and prejudice. Stereotypes are cognitive shortcuts
2. What should Roy have said when Marina told him she was pregnant?
3. What could Roy do to ensure that Marina’s work will be covered during her absence and
to reassure her that taking this time off will not hurt her advancement?
Roy could work with Marina to develop a plan for distribution of her work during the
4. What type of organizational changes can be made to benefit Marina and other pregnant
women in this organization?
The organization should adopt policies and procedures that support work-life balance and
flexibility. People need to take leaves for any number of reasons, and a strong organization
Potential teaching approaches:
Below is a way to structure a class based on case study 15.3:
• Hold a lecture on women and leadership.
Exercises for this case study:
1) Students should assume that Roy realizes the error of his ways, after being scolded by
others at the company. Students will draft a written apology on behalf of Roy to Marina.
2) Thankfully, overt discrimination like Roy’s is becoming less frequent. However, covert
discrimination of women, particularly mothers, is still a threat to women in the
workforce. Students should discuss covert discrimination. How might it “show up” at
Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition: Instructor Resource