Current Research.
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I am currently engaged in a number of projects that seek to better understand and reduce family inequality, with a particular emphasis on how work arrangements, cultural norms and events, and family dynamics both contribute to, and help to reduce, gender inequality. These projects focus on parental leave, work-family dynamics more generally, and how parents' division of labor has changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Parents' Division of Labor during COVID-19
This project seeks to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the ways in which parents divide domestic labor, as well as what consequences these changes have for families. This is a collaborative project with Daniel L. Carlson (University of Utah) and Joanna R. Pepin (University at Buffalo, SUNY). We collected survey data from partnered parents in April 2020 and asked them about their experiences both before and during the pandemic. We then conducted a follow-up survey in November 2020 that included both original panelists and a new group of parents.
Changes in Parents' Domestic Labor During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Initial evidence suggests that the pandemic has both exacerbated and reduced gender inequality in domestic labor. See details in our research brief and full paper:
Media coverage of this project can be found at:
A Gendered Pandemic: Childcare, Homeschooling, and Parents' Employment During COVID-19
We also find the loss of non-parental childcare and homeschooling requirements have increased the risk of unemployment and reduced work hours among mothers. However, father involvement in childcare before the pandemic may also buffer against negative employment outcomes for mothers.
An overview of the main findings of this study and its implications can be found in our article in Harvard Business Review.
Changes in Parents' Domestic Labor During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Initial evidence suggests that the pandemic has both exacerbated and reduced gender inequality in domestic labor. See details in our research brief and full paper:
- This study was published in Sociological Inquiry, and the preprint for the manuscript can be accessed on SocArXiv
- Council on Contemporary Families brief
Media coverage of this project can be found at:
A Gendered Pandemic: Childcare, Homeschooling, and Parents' Employment During COVID-19
We also find the loss of non-parental childcare and homeschooling requirements have increased the risk of unemployment and reduced work hours among mothers. However, father involvement in childcare before the pandemic may also buffer against negative employment outcomes for mothers.
- This study was published in Gender, Work & Organization, and the preprint for the manuscript can also be accessed on SocArXiv.
An overview of the main findings of this study and its implications can be found in our article in Harvard Business Review.
Father Involvement & Gender Equality in the US: Contemporary Norms and Barriers
Father Involvement and Gender Equality in the United States: Contemporary Norms and Barriers (under contract with Routledge) provides an overview of fatherhood in the United States today to explore why fathers continue to be less involved in childcare than mothers and to strategize about how we can work toward encouraging and promoting greater father involvement. In doing so, this book examines fundamental issues that are vital in working toward greater gender equality. Specifically, this book focuses on three key questions: (1) How is fatherhood viewed today? (2) Why aren’t fathers more involved at home? (3) How do we get fathers more involved at home?
Women are disadvantaged in both paid and domestic work, due in large part to being primarily responsible for parenting duties. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these inequalities, making the issue of reducing gender inequality even more pressing. Fathers play an important role in contributing to, and perhaps reducing, gender inequality, but barriers to their involvement in family life have received less attention than detailing challenges that mothers face. If men were equally involved in parenting and were truly fully engaged dads, women's burdens would be reduced and perceptions of who is responsible for parenting may change, resulting in greater gender equality. Father Involvement and Gender Equality in the United States focuses on the key issue of father involvement, seeking to understand why fathers are less involved parents than mothers despite an increased desire among both fathers and mothers for fathers to be more engaged parents. Specifically, I use recent national survey data from the United States to provide an overview of contemporary fatherhood in the U.S., including identifying current norms of fatherhood, barriers to father involvement, and strategies to overcome these barriers. In doing so, this book provides a unique and important contribution to our understanding of the culture of fatherhood in the U.S., and the implications of father involvement for gender equality, through the use of quantitative survey data. I also utilize interviews with fathers to compliment this national overview and illustrate how these key themes play out in fathers’ everyday lives.
Parental Leave Policies
I am working on a project that focuses on assessing what types of parental leave policies lead to more favorable views of parental leave-taking. In order for parental leave policies to be effective and beneficial, there needs to be good policies in place but the broader culture also needs to be accepting and supportive of individuals who take leave. This project uses an experimental design to assess how various aspects of parental leave policies may affect cultural perceptions of leave-taking. Identifying what types of policies lead to more favorable views of those who take leave can help policymakers to design parental leave policies that will facilitate both greater utilization and cultural acceptance of leave-taking. This is a collaborative project with Trenton D. Mize (Purdue University) and Gayle Kaufman (Davidson College). To date, we have conducted two survey experiments approximately one year apart (2019 and 2020) and have two publications from this project.
Organizational Policies, Workplace Culture, and Perceived Job Commitment of Mothers and Fathers Who Take Parental Leave
Americans do not always fully utilize available parental leave policies due (in part) to fear of a commitment penalty – where taking leave (or taking longer periods of leave) lowers perceptions of job commitment. Using a survey experiment (N = 1713) to identify whether organizational leave policies affect perceived job commitment, we find that leave-taking (and taking longer periods of leave) is negatively associated with perceived commitment. However, perceived commitment is higher when workers take leave under more favorable policies, and the effect of favorable policies on perceived commitment is greater for fathers than mothers. Overall, these results can help organizations design parental leave policies that increase the likelihood that workers can take needed leave without damaging their careers.
As an offshoot of the the main focus on understanding the impact of parental leave policies, this unique design enabled us to consider the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on gender attitudes.
Organizational Policies, Workplace Culture, and Perceived Job Commitment of Mothers and Fathers Who Take Parental Leave
Americans do not always fully utilize available parental leave policies due (in part) to fear of a commitment penalty – where taking leave (or taking longer periods of leave) lowers perceptions of job commitment. Using a survey experiment (N = 1713) to identify whether organizational leave policies affect perceived job commitment, we find that leave-taking (and taking longer periods of leave) is negatively associated with perceived commitment. However, perceived commitment is higher when workers take leave under more favorable policies, and the effect of favorable policies on perceived commitment is greater for fathers than mothers. Overall, these results can help organizations design parental leave policies that increase the likelihood that workers can take needed leave without damaging their careers.
As an offshoot of the the main focus on understanding the impact of parental leave policies, this unique design enabled us to consider the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on gender attitudes.
- Visualizing Shifts in Gendered Parenting Attitudes during COVID-19
- Many scholars have expressed fears that the 2019 coronavirus pandemic may exacerbate gender inequalities. Indeed, studies have suggested that women, and mothers in particular, have been particularly affected by reducing their participation in the paid labor market to meet increased caregiving needs. What is less clear is whether the pandemic has also shifted attitudes about mothers’ and fathers’ roles. We collected data on gendered parenting attitudes both before and during the pandemic and report shifts in attitudes in this data visualization. Consistent with fears of exacerbated gender inequality, we find a shift toward more conventional gender parenting attitudes. We also find an increase in the importance placed on mothers’ and fathers’ earning money and a decrease in the role mothers and fathers play in child development, both of which may be due to the pandemic’s effects on the economy and schooling.