First Advisor

Maura Kelly

Date of Publication

Summer 9-30-2015

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.) in Sociology

Department

Sociology

Language

English

Subjects

Work and family -- United States, Work-life balance -- United States, Fathers -- Employment -- United States -- Attitudes, Parents -- Employment -- United States -- Attitudes

DOI

10.15760/etd.2527

Physical Description

1 online resource (vi, 59 pages)

Abstract

As many Americans move away from the traditional homemaker-breadwinner family model, research on gender and work/family conflict has become increasingly important and the question of gender difference in experiences of work/family conflict continues to be relevant. While there is research that shows women tend to experience significantly greater work/family conflict than men, there are also studies that have shown little or no gender difference, and some that offer evidence that men are reporting more work/family conflict. This study contributes to the debate by examining gender and occupational prestige in regard to working parents' perceptions of work-to-family and family-to-work spillover, with a quantitative analysis of national probability sampled survey data from the General Social Survey's Quality of Working Life Module from the years 2006 and 2010. The findings indicate that fathers are reporting significantly more work/family conflict than mothers, and that higher prestige work is associated with greater work/family conflict, but occupational prestige has a gendered effect with work-to-family spillover and is found to be especially salient for fathers. Overall, this study demonstrates the need for policy-makers and employers to acknowledge men's parenthood. The findings are evidence that there is a need for incentivized paternity leave initiatives in the United States, as well as more universal employee work/life programs that address the barriers to fathers utilizing family-accommodating benefits.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/16086

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