NEW WORLDS OF WORK AND CARE Fall, 2014 Professor Kathleen Gerson

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1 NEW WORLDS OF WORK AND CARE Fall, 2014 Professor Kathleen Gerson The early 21st century represents a period of immense social change in both the public world of work and the private world of caring for others. New technologies have blurred the boundary between home and work. New economic opportunities and pressures have sent women into the workplace. The rise of the new economy has created jobs with more short-term flexibility, but less long-term security. And new options in intimate relationships have created more diverse and voluntary, but less predictable, family bonds. Taken together, these intertwined shifts represent a social transformation that is reshaping the daily lives and life pathways of American women and men. To explore the causes, consequences, and significance of these twin revolutions in work and care, the class will address several questions: What does an overview of changes in work, family, and gender patterns tell us about where we are now and where we are going? What are the major dilemmas created by these changes, and how are people coping with these conflicts? What are the implications for the future? And what can we do to enhance the opportunities and limit the insecurities of these new social arrangements? To accomplish these goals, the class will take a two-pronged approach. For the first half of the semester, students will read, analyze, and discuss cutting edge research; during the second half, students will conduct their own original research projects. The Part I of the class, short reflection memos, due each week, will help students prepare for class discussions that focus on core issues in the ongoing work-care debate. These 1 3 page memos should contain a brief discussion of the central questions or main arguments and debates raised by the readings. Although they will not be graded, failing to submit them on time will carry a penalty. In Part II, each student will develop and carry out an original research project on a relevant topic of her or his choice. Weekly research memos will help students develop, conduct, and complete these project. Drawing questions that emerge in the first half of the class, each student will develop a more focused question, formulate a research design to answer it, collect original data, and write the results in the form of a research article. This project may involve any form of research (e.g., face-to-face interviews, ethnographic observations, or survey data collection). The final grade will reflect a combination of these contributions, including the research paper, class participation, and submission of timely reflection memos. Readings include selected articles and research reports (available online) and books available for purchase. 1

2 Welcome, Introduction, and Overview CLASS SCHEDULE & ASSIGNMENTS (Preliminary) Part I: Understanding the New Worlds of Work and Care Work-Family survey distributed. Family, Work, and Gender: Where are We Now? The Origins of Contemporary Work-Family Dilemmas Diversity of Work, Family, and Work-Family Arrangements Bianchi, Changing Families, Changing Workplaces Gerson & Jacobs, The Work-Home Crunch Pew, Breadwinner Moms Pew, Adults as Family Caregivers Pew, The Rise of Single Fathers Pew, Modern Parenthood Pew, Childlessness Trends Chart, Mothers & Fathers Work & Family Time Risman, Families as They Really Are Land and Risman, A Stalled Revolution or a Still Unfolding One? Cotter, England, and Hermsen, Moms and Jobs Work-family survey due. The Private Side of Work-Care Conflicts: Changing Family and Gender Dynamics Individual and Family Frontiers: Personal Responses to Strained Schedules England, Theories of Carework Stone, Rhetoric and Reality of Opting Out Pew, The Decline of Marriage and Rise of New Families Pew, Marriage Trends 2

3 Damaske, For the Family? Chapters 1 3: The Need and Choice Myths ; The Shape of Women s Work Pathways ; and A Major Career Woman: How Women Develop Early Expectations About Work Chapters 1 4: The Shaping of a New Generation ; Families Beyond the Stereotypes ; The Rising Fortunes of Flexible Families ; and Domestic Deadlocks and Declining Fortunes Risman, Families as They Really Are Coontz, The Evolution of American Families Rosenfeld, The Steady Rise of Nontraditional Romantic Unions Smock and Manning, New Couples, New Families: The Cohabitation Revolution in the United States Cooke, Traditional Marriages Now Less Stable Than Ones Where Couples Share Work and Household Chores Sullivan, Men s Changing Contribution to Family Work (& Men s Changing Contribution to Housework and Child Care ) Reflection memo 1 due. The Public Side of Work-Care Conflicts: Changing Workplace and Family Connections Employer Frontiers: Organizational Intransigence and Promising Practices England, The Gender Revolution: Uneven and Stalled Gerson, Different Ways of Not Having It All Slaughter, Why Women Still Can t Have It All Damaske, For the Family? Chapters 4 6: Working Steadily ; Pulling Back ; and A Life Interrupted Chapters 5 8: High Hopes, Lurking Fears ; Women s Search for Self- Reliance ; Men s Resistance to Equal Sharing ; and Reaching Across the Gender Divide Reflection memo 2 due. 3

4 The Consequences of Work and Family Change: Adult and Child Well-being Across Family, Class, and Ethnic Divides Articles on line: Furstenberg, et al., Growing Up is Harder To Do Pew, Motherhood & Education Trends Pew, A Gender Reversal on Career Aspirations Risman, Families As They Really Are Cowan and Cowan, Beyond Family Structure: Family Process Studies Help Reframe Debates about What s Good for Children Gerstel and Sarkisian, Marriage Reduces Social Ties Green, From Outlaws to In-Laws: Gay and Lesbian Couples in Contemporary Society Moore, Independent Women: Equality in African-American Lesbian Relationships Franklin, African Americans and the Birth of the Modern Marriage Furstenberg, Diverging Development: The Not-So-Invisible Hand of Social Class in the United States Lareau, Unequal Childhoods Roy and Cabrera, Not Just Provide and Reside: Engaged Fathers in Low-Income Families England and Edin, Unmarried Couples with Children Reflection memo 3 due. The Consequences of Work and Family Change: Work-Family Policies and Possibilities Global Perspectives on the Work-Family Interface Work-Family Interface as a National Priority Boushey, The Role of the Government in Work-Family Conflict Earle, et al., International Perspectives on Work-Family Policies Gornick & Myers, More Alike Than Different Damaske, For the Family? Chapter 7 8: For the Family: How Women Account for Work Decisions ; and Having It All: Egalitarian Dreams Deferred Chapter 9: Finishing the Gender Revolution 4

5 Risman, Families As They Really Are Struening, Families In Law and Families In Practice : Does the Law Recognize Families As They Really Are? Coontz and Folbre, Marriage, Poverty, and Public Policy Reflection memo 4 due. Part II: Investigating the New Worlds of Work and Care Getting Started: Formulating a Research Question & Developing a Research Design Damaske, For the Family? Appendix Appendix 2: Studying Social and Individual Change Risman, Families As They Really Are Cherlin, One Thousand and Forty-nine Reasons Why It s Hard to Know When a Fact is a Fact Cowan, When Is a Relationship between Facts a Causal One? Burton, Uncovering Hidden Facts That Matter in Interpreting Individuals Behaviors: An Ethnographic Lens Research Memo 1: Describe your research topic and question(s). Choose a topic that has sparked your interest in class and that points toward an accessible research setting (e.g., students, organizations, contacts through friends, etc.). A good question asks not only what, but also why and how. Your question should aim to help clarify a puzzling social fact and how it might vary in the real world. To the extent possible, include a summary of the core debate(s) you will address. Doing Research: Getting Into the Field and Collecting Data Research Memo 2: Describe your planned research design and its rationale. Include a description of your research setting(s), type of data you will collect, how you will gain access to your data, the central comparisons you plan to make, and the range of factors you will measure. 5

6 Making Sense of Things: Analyzing Data Research Memo 3: Summarize your most important findings so far and describe any emerging trends and relationships. Considering others findings or your own expectations, what have you discovered that is surprising, new, or especially interesting? Reaching Conclusions Writing It Up Research Memo 4: Present your analytic strategy for making sense of your findings. What are the major findings, and what is their theoretical significance? How do they add to, clarify, or challenge current understandings of your topic? All in all, what is your emerging argument or your answer to the question(s) posed? Research Memo 5: Submit an outline of final paper, including: A. Satement of the research question(s). B. Brief overview of competing approaches to answering the research question(s), including an assessment of their strengths and weaknesses and your own approach to the problem. C. Brief description and rationale for the methods and a summary of the sample and analytic categories used to answer the question(s). This is the place for a general discussion. More technical details should be placed in either endnotes and or an appendix. D. Presentation and analysis of the significant findings. This section should form the bulk of your paper and may contain numerous subheadings. It should present strategically chosen data that demonstrates your key findings and uses them to advance your argument. E. Conclusion. The conclusion should summarize your key findings and use them to draw and support your overall argument and its relevance for understanding your research topic. F. Appendices: If relevant, attach appendices that include a fuller explanation of your methodology, copies of any research instruments, and descriptions or findings not included in the main text. Research article : Aim for an approximate length of pages (not including appendices). 6