Parents’ Strategies in Dealing with Constructions of Gendered Responsibilities at Their Workplaces
This paper, which is based on qualitative research conducted in Austria, focuses on current gender inequalities between parents in fulfilling their parental responsibilities, which means reconciling the responsibilities of childcare and earning a living. Austria is characterized by a substantial gen...
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Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/8/9/250 |
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doaj-7c8dda8b425041169825722c57aad7ba2020-11-25T02:01:12ZengMDPI AGSocial Sciences2076-07602019-09-018925010.3390/socsci8090250socsci8090250Parents’ Strategies in Dealing with Constructions of Gendered Responsibilities at Their WorkplacesGerlinde Mauerer0Eva-Maria Schmidt1Department of Sociology, University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, AustriaAustrian Institute for Family Studies at the University of Vienna, 1010 Vienna, AustriaThis paper, which is based on qualitative research conducted in Austria, focuses on current gender inequalities between parents in fulfilling their parental responsibilities, which means reconciling the responsibilities of childcare and earning a living. Austria is characterized by a substantial gender gap in men’s and women’s labor force participation and a system that provides particularly long parental leaves. These foster long-term gender inequalities in parents’ careers and involvement in family life after their transition to parenthood. Against this background, we analyzed constructions of parental responsibilities parents face at their workplaces, and how these constructions shape parents’ decisions on sharing parental responsibilities. The findings demonstrate the relevance of parental norms that comprise a father’s main responsibility as breadwinner and a mother’s primary responsibility as a caregiver, constructed and reproduced by parents’ colleagues and employers. Consequently, for parents who try to share their breadwinning and caregiving in a non-normative (and more gender-equal) way, both parents are forced to find strategies in dealing with normative constructions. These strategies range from making a ‘conscious decision’, insisting on the original plan, and challenging predominant norms at workplaces, through quitting the job and looking for another employer, to modifying or giving up the originally planned arrangement.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/8/9/250gender inequalityparental leaveemployed parentssocial constructionsparental responsibilitiesAustria |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Gerlinde Mauerer Eva-Maria Schmidt |
spellingShingle |
Gerlinde Mauerer Eva-Maria Schmidt Parents’ Strategies in Dealing with Constructions of Gendered Responsibilities at Their Workplaces Social Sciences gender inequality parental leave employed parents social constructions parental responsibilities Austria |
author_facet |
Gerlinde Mauerer Eva-Maria Schmidt |
author_sort |
Gerlinde Mauerer |
title |
Parents’ Strategies in Dealing with Constructions of Gendered Responsibilities at Their Workplaces |
title_short |
Parents’ Strategies in Dealing with Constructions of Gendered Responsibilities at Their Workplaces |
title_full |
Parents’ Strategies in Dealing with Constructions of Gendered Responsibilities at Their Workplaces |
title_fullStr |
Parents’ Strategies in Dealing with Constructions of Gendered Responsibilities at Their Workplaces |
title_full_unstemmed |
Parents’ Strategies in Dealing with Constructions of Gendered Responsibilities at Their Workplaces |
title_sort |
parents’ strategies in dealing with constructions of gendered responsibilities at their workplaces |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Social Sciences |
issn |
2076-0760 |
publishDate |
2019-09-01 |
description |
This paper, which is based on qualitative research conducted in Austria, focuses on current gender inequalities between parents in fulfilling their parental responsibilities, which means reconciling the responsibilities of childcare and earning a living. Austria is characterized by a substantial gender gap in men’s and women’s labor force participation and a system that provides particularly long parental leaves. These foster long-term gender inequalities in parents’ careers and involvement in family life after their transition to parenthood. Against this background, we analyzed constructions of parental responsibilities parents face at their workplaces, and how these constructions shape parents’ decisions on sharing parental responsibilities. The findings demonstrate the relevance of parental norms that comprise a father’s main responsibility as breadwinner and a mother’s primary responsibility as a caregiver, constructed and reproduced by parents’ colleagues and employers. Consequently, for parents who try to share their breadwinning and caregiving in a non-normative (and more gender-equal) way, both parents are forced to find strategies in dealing with normative constructions. These strategies range from making a ‘conscious decision’, insisting on the original plan, and challenging predominant norms at workplaces, through quitting the job and looking for another employer, to modifying or giving up the originally planned arrangement. |
topic |
gender inequality parental leave employed parents social constructions parental responsibilities Austria |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/8/9/250 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT gerlindemauerer parentsstrategiesindealingwithconstructionsofgenderedresponsibilitiesattheirworkplaces AT evamariaschmidt parentsstrategiesindealingwithconstructionsofgenderedresponsibilitiesattheirworkplaces |
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