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Two-generation gender equality study shows career benefits for men

Date:
October 10, 2014
Source:
Örebro Universitet
Summary:
Couples in a research experiment launched in the 1970s shared the responsibility for home, family and work equally. Now, 30 years later, a follow-up study shows that the couples’ strive for equality was beneficial not only for the family life but also for the fathers’ careers. Despite this their sons, now themselves parents, have not chosen the same path.
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Couples in a research experiment launched in the 1970s shared the responsibility for home, family and work equally. Now, 30 years later, a follow-up study by Swedish researchers at Örebro University shows that the couples' strive for equality was beneficial not only for the familylife but also for the fathers' careers. Despite this their sons, now themselves parents, have not chosen the same path.

"Patterns do not pass on to the next generation as easily as we might have believed," said Margunn Bjørnholt, researcher in gender Studies at Örebro University.

The Work-Sharing Couples project, led by the Norwegian sociologist Erik Grønseth, involved 16 couples all living in Norway. Both partners worked part-time, spent the same amount of time at home and shared the household tasks equally.

"The participating couples reveal that this has been good for their relationship and for the family as a whole," said Margunn Bjørnholt.

"On top of that the men did not feel that the change has had any negative effect on their work, even though they went against the flow and worked less hours than other men. On the contrary they thought it had been beneficial, because the responsibility they took at home was highly valued in the workplace."

Margunn Bjørnholt's research shows that the time the fathers spent at home was viewed as management experience. Despite the positive effects for familylife and career, however, the follow-up study shows that the second generation, the participants' sons, have not chosen the same kind of life.

They are now parents themselves and live in what Margunn Bjørnholt refers to as neo-traditional families. In these families both parents work and both take responsibility at home. But the woman takes more responsibility for the family and the man focuses to a greater extent on work outside the home.

"Like father, like son is not the case in this instance. The surrounding society, structures as well as social and historical conditions play a decisive role."


Story Source:

Materials provided by Örebro Universitet. Original written by Linda Harradine. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Cite This Page:

Örebro Universitet. "Two-generation gender equality study shows career benefits for men." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 10 October 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141010083853.htm>.
Örebro Universitet. (2014, October 10). Two-generation gender equality study shows career benefits for men. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 6, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141010083853.htm
Örebro Universitet. "Two-generation gender equality study shows career benefits for men." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141010083853.htm (accessed October 6, 2024).

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