Work and Family Roles: A Qualitative Study of Women and Men in Beginning Career and Family Stages
Interviews with 24 women and men, ages 27 through 30, led to a perception of this cohort as a distinct subculture in our society. They are enabled by recent social changes which permit expanded roles, yet restricted by the gender-role expectations of former generations. While women are participating more fully in the provider role and men in the caretaker role, primary responsibility for these roles is still dictated by traditional gender-role beliefs. During approximately three hours of interviews, participants described their perceptions of work and family and their beliefs about combining work and family roles. They described their role values and priorities, their role conflicts, and their methods of coping with conflict. Challenged to integrate their inherited gender-role beliefs with current role expectations, the predominant tendency of this cohort is toward finding role harmony and balanced lives.
Sociology, Individual and Family Studies
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign