Take it or Leave it?

Sociologist Rachel Demerling investigates how male university professors negotiate parental leave with their spouses and what factors influence their decision in a culture that continuously questions the emergence of the new father. By conducting interviews, Demerling first investigates factors that traditionally deter many men from taking parental leave. Second, Demerling examines the extent to which traditional factors affect university male professors and analyzes additional factors to uncover the barriers and enablers they face. Demerling discusses how although male professors in this study have highly liberal gender ideologies, they continue to be adversely affected by traditional gender norms. This research offers a valuable perspective on parental leave because it pushes forward our understanding of the barriers men face by analyzing negotiations among men who are in an advantageous position to take leave unlike the literature on social policy, which only focuses on men who are constrained by traditional factors. This book is ideally suited for those in the fields of sociology, cultural studies or those with an interest in gender roles and social policy.

Autorentext

Rachel Demerling is a PhD candidate at McMaster University in the department of Sociology. Her primary research interests include gender, families and social inequality.