Children not allowed at University - why?

[oxen1]

I work in a London University and was told that I'm not allowed to have my 6 year old visit me, not could I bring my second baby 3 years ago, due to them not being covered by insurance. For them to come in I would need a special letter from the Head and my line manager said that in general "it's frowned upon".

Does anybody have an idea of what this means and why it's so hard to show my child where I work? Or is it a uk-wide thing that's the norm in any educational institution?

MagratGarlik, of course ElizabethMedora should be as professional as a member of staff, the fact that she has kids (and acknowledges that they may be unwelcome where she studies) doesn't take anything away from her professionalism. And on the subject of mothers in the workplace being taken less seriously, I personally make a point of mentioning in front of students that I have children, because having a family shouldn't curb anybody's ambition, nor should they see parenthood as the end of their career.

I didn't say that being a mother=end of career, I said that women who are visibly mothers in the workplace are taken less seriously than men. I don't agree with the attitude, but it is there. Personally, I wouldn't make a point of mentioning them because having children would largely be irrelevant to work, I just wouldn't avoid mentioning them either e.g. If something came up where it was relevant to mention them, I'd do so, but I wouldn't make a point of mentioning them.

Sorry, that was somewhat garbled. Must remember not to post before first cup of coffee. Hopefully you get the gist!

Looks like universities have different policies then, as mine allows breastfed babies to be in lectures up to the age of 26 weeks, and babies and children are more than welcome on campus as the uni wants to introduce children to learning and to make it less of a strange scary place when they're older.

I have had no issue with taking my dc to campus, but recently as the gender dynamic in my dept has changed (I am one of two women and all the male staff are in promoted posts), I have been tending towards Magretgarlicks view. So much so that I was considering taking my dc pictures down.

On the other hand, I also think that we represent a diverse student body and not being in the mould of your traditional white male professor is role-modelling for students who are not in the mould of your traditional, white young single childfree whole future ahead of him man.

So I don't know. But it is true that being a mother, and visibly being a mother harms people's professional perception of you, I think.

There's something very old fashioned and male-orientated about how universities are run still, and children are seen as a woman's problem I guess. I do get you MagratGarlik and Romeyroo, in fact I wrote a longer message earlier that I must have messed up during posting because it's gone...

It would make more sense to have creches and nurseries in every big campus, same for any other big company I think. And, Moomin, I'm applying for a job at your place!

I took DS to mine a few times but there were often local events for school children, sports things, there is a theatre where anybody can buy tickets and they often put on children's shows, so perhaps they do have insurance. They have a creche as well and family accommodation.

It's great, oxen

we're going today for a look around the baby room of their state of the art creche/nursery that doubles as a training facility for education and childhood students :)

I worked in a faculty where some of the research going on was such that failures of the HVAC for example would have ramifications for young children which wouldn't apply to adults. I have had to bring my children onto my current site when collecting work when I've been working from home because they were ill, for example, and I called an assistant to come and stand by the car with daughter in while I went in to my office.

We had many students with children and without a blanket ban the library would have become a creche: the only people who would lose out would be those who actually wanted to study in there.

The rule has been put in place for some reason, not aimed at your child, and the security guards are just enforcing it. Don't take it personally: it is not a judgement on the behaviour of your 6 year old. The rules are in place for everyone.

Momb, it's been a really helpful thread as it's shown me how there are many variations of attitude and policy - and I'm not taking it personally!

I used to work in a (Victorian built) hospital and you weren't allowed to bring children in because the 'grand staircase' banisters were set too far apart according to the insurance company.

I work at a Uni (not London) and my DCs have gone to the onsite creche for childcare while I work, and sometimes I've had to take them back to my office briefly if I've forgotten my keys or something. I've not had anybody tell me either way if they are allowed in or not. I work in a lab too, but I'd be vary of them walkign through the labs, I'd always hold on to their hands or carry them when they were small. I've taken them to onsite cafes and resturants as well.

We had that rule, suddenly implemented, in the university I was working in a few years ago. It was to do with risk assessment and possible dangers e.g. under 10s falling down the stairs (the building didn't have that many stairs and they weren't very dangerous ones - 60s building). It was generally ignored by staff but I suppose they were covered in insurance terms.

My current university doens't have that rule as far as I know, people do bring children in. We have much higher stairs here.

I work in the University of London and have bullishly taken my DS to work with me when necessary since he was 6 months old. I can do a lot of stuff with him around; I don't take him into lectures or formal meetings - I pay qualified undergraduates to babysit! - but if I'm just doing email or informal work with students and my administrators then it's fine. I'm even beginning to bea able to write with him there now he's 4 and capable of occupying himself

It's never been considered a problem as long as I'm aware.that I must take responsibility for him at all times. Besides, there's no physical way of stopping children coming onto campus as it's open to the public.

That being said, I'm in humanities and I really can see why you'd stop children going into scientific labs etc.

The university here has been very tolerant. My DCs occasionally come into my office, when I've picked one or both of them up from school and then need to do a bit more work. I very often take them to the library, where they often use a computer each to play on or do homework. The librarians are welcoming. They are also allowed to use the university music practice rooms. We sometimes eat in the bar or café here. They sometimes have a shower. We have birthday parties in the grounds. I often take them to student theatre and so on.

They've also been to some guest lectures!