More dads are taking time to be with their families, but policies and supports still have a long way to go.
Danny Leznoff was the first male in Simon Fraser University's chemistry department to take parental leave after the birth of his child, something he has done twice. Early in the new millennium, Dr. Leznoff says his experience at SFU was at "the pointy edge of the wedge university-wide." His first daughter, Sayako, was born in July 2004. Having recently received tenure, the associate professor took paternity leave for four months - one term - that September. But he wasn't originally planning to take time off at all.
In anticipation of the birth of his first child, Dr. Leznoff approached his department chair to rearrange the timing of a course he was scheduled to teach that fall. His goal was to change it from a 50-minute lecture taught three times a week to a three-hour class that met once a week. Reasoning that these logistics would streamline commuting so he could spend more time at home, he had every intention of continuing to teach after his baby arrived - he didn't want to inconvenience his colleagues by diminishing his teaching load. "It really hadn't occurred to me to ask for parental leave," says Dr. Leznoff.
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