Exploring Persistent Puzzles in Gender, Work, Care and Community
There have been dramatic changes in the last 50 years in how North American women and men work and care for their families. For example, there have been significant increases in the number of families in which women are primary breadwinners and men are primary caregivers. In other words, more women are now bringing home the bread and more men are baking bread.
However, enduring gender differences and inequalities persist. Women fill a small minority of executive employment positions and men face scrutiny when they enter parent playgroups. Men continue to earn more than women at paid work, while women continue to be responsible for most unpaid work.
Dr. Andrea Doucet, Canada Research Chair in Gender, Work, Care and Community is studying persistent puzzles of gender differences and inequalities in paid and unpaid work. Her research focuses on families that are challenging traditional gender norms around work and care—such as primary caregiving fathers and primary breadwinning mothers—and the lessons that emerge from them.
Doucet is exploring changes in care and work experiences across three generations. She is also shining a spotlight on the challenges faced by men who take up caregiving of infants, children and the elderly.
Doucet’s research will contribute greatly to public and policy debates aimed at increasing gender equalities in paid work and care work. She will also engage a wide public audience through cutting-edge narrative and visual/digital methodologies that capture and convey a rich diversity of stories on changing work and family lives.