Experts
Susan Short
Professor of Sociology and Director of the Population Studies and Training Center, Brown University
News
- Who Cares and Caring for Whom? Unpaid Caregiving by Gender and Sexual Identity
Brief report from CCF Early Career Scholar Dr. Meredith Zhang summarizes new research on how providing unpaid care for family and friends differs by gender, sexual orientation, and partnership status. - Executive Summary: The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Future of Gender EqualityPrepared by Daniel L. Carlson, University of Utah, and Richard J. Petts, Ball State University, for the Council on Contemporary Families symposium The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Future of Gender Equality (PDF). The COVID-19 pandemic… Read more: Executive Summary: The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Future of Gender Equality
- The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Future of Gender Equality Symposium
A new CCF symposium highlights what emerging research tells us about changes to family & work life during the COVID-19 pandemic and what they mean for the future of gender equality in the U.S. - Childcare Challenges During the Pandemic and Their Impact on Parents and Care ProvidersA briefing paper prepared by Liana Christin Landivar, Women’s Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor, and Pilar Gonalons-Pons, University of Pennsylvania for the Council on Contemporary Families online symposium The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Future of… Read more: Childcare Challenges During the Pandemic and Their Impact on Parents and Care Providers
- Pandemic Influences on Gender Inequality in Unpaid WorkA briefing paper prepared by Liana C. Sayer, University of Maryland and Joanna R. Pepin, University of Toronto for the Council on Contemporary Families online symposium The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Future of Gender Equality… Read more: Pandemic Influences on Gender Inequality in Unpaid Work
- Mothers Continue to Experience Career Consequences Three Years into the PandemicA briefing paper prepared by Jill E. Yavorsky, University of North Carolina Charlotte, Yue Qian, University of British Columbia, and Liana Christin Landivar, Women’s Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor, for the Council on Contemporary Families… Read more: Mothers Continue to Experience Career Consequences Three Years into the Pandemic
- Can Remote Work Fuel Gender Equality? Evidence Shows Cause for Optimism but Challenges RemainA briefing paper prepared by Wen Fan, Boston University, and Richard J. Petts, Ball State University, for the Council on Contemporary Families symposium The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Future of Gender Equality (PDF). [Acknowledgement: The… Read more: Can Remote Work Fuel Gender Equality? Evidence Shows Cause for Optimism but Challenges Remain
- Dads Home with Kids Peaked During The COVID-19 Pandemic – But Not for The Reason You ThinkA briefing paper prepared by Arielle Kuperberg, University of North Carolina – Greensboro, Sarah Thébaud, University of California, Santa Barbara, Kathleen Gerson, New York University, and Brad Harrington, Boston College, for the Council on Contemporary… Read more: Dads Home with Kids Peaked During The COVID-19 Pandemic – But Not for The Reason You Think
- Leave Laws Support EquityA briefing paper prepared by Jeff Hayes, Women’s Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor[1], and H. Elizabeth Peters, Urban Institute, for the Council on Contemporary Families symposium The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Future of Gender Equality… Read more: Leave Laws Support Equity
- Work-Family Stressors, Gender, and Mental Health during COVID-19 and BeyondA briefing paper prepared by Daniel L. Carson, University of Utah, and Melissa A. Milkie, University of Toronto, for the Council on Contemporary Families symposium The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Future of Gender Equality (PDF).… Read more: Work-Family Stressors, Gender, and Mental Health during COVID-19 and Beyond
- Managing the Household is a Stressor for Mothers But Not Fathers
A new brief report from CCF takes a look at how cognitive labor related to household management influences well-being in different ways for mothers and fathers. - Between A Rock and A Hard Place: Lessons From The Covid-19 Pandemic About Health Concerns And US Mothers’ Employment
New research on how mothers’ concerns about community COVID-19 transmission affects their labor force participation. - Mine and Yours, or Ours: Are All Egalitarian Relationships Equal?
It turns out there is a big difference between dividing up the tasks so that each partner does different ones versus sharing or alternating the same tasks, so that partners contribute equally to each. - Mothers Are the Primary Earners in Growing Numbers of Families with Children
A new study estimates that about 70% of U.S. moms can expect to be primary financial providers before their children turn 18. - People are Not as Consistent in Their Social Ideologies as We Think: Changing Views on Gender and Race, 1977-2018
A new study finds that recognizing one type of inequality doesn’t automatically lead to recognition of another. - Media Messages to Young Girls: Does “Sexy Girl” Trump “Girl Power”?
Children face continued social isolation this fall, with 21 of the 25 largest school districts in the country choosing remote learning instead of in-person classes. - Before and during COVID-19: Telecommuting, Work-Family Conflict, and Gender Equality
Before and During COVID-19: Telecommuting, Work-Family Conflict, and Gender Equality A briefing paper prepared by Thomas Lyttelton (Yale Sociology), Emma Zang (Yale Sociology), and Kelly Musick (Cornell Policy Analysis and Management) for the Council on… Read more: Before and during COVID-19: Telecommuting, Work-Family Conflict, and Gender Equality - CCF’S Stephanie Coontz Interviewed by Legacy Washington
“Legacy Washington recently recorded an interview with author/historian Stephanie Coontz. Watch Legacy Washington historian Bob Young interview Coontz, an expert on family and marriage whose writing influenced the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 decision legalizing same-sex… Read more: CCF’S Stephanie Coontz Interviewed by Legacy Washington - CCF Experts Featured in The Washington Post, Boston Globe, Deseret News
CCF experts Dan Carlson, Richard Petts, and Joanna Pepin discuss the findings of their latest brief report on gendered division of labor during the covid-19 pandemic with Deseret News’ Lois M. Collins. Read the article, “More… Read more: CCF Experts Featured in The Washington Post, Boston Globe, Deseret News - CCF’s Stephanie Coontz featured in Rolling Stone
Read her thoughts on the challenges mothers are facing in “Coronavirus Is Killing the Working Mother” - Men and Women Agree: During the COVID-19 Pandemic Men Are Doing More at Home
A briefing paper prepared by Daniel L. Carlson (University of Utah), Richard J. Petts (Ball State University), and Joanna R. Pepin (University of Buffalo – SUNY) for the Council on Contemporary Families. For the past… Read more: Men and Women Agree: During the COVID-19 Pandemic Men Are Doing More at Home - CCF’s Stephanie Coontz for The New York Times: What Can Different-Sex Couples Learn From Same-Sex Couples?
Five years after marriage equality, CCF Director of Research and Public Education Stephanie Coontz asks: What can different-sex couples learn from same-sex couples? Featuring research by CCF experts Joanna Pepin, Dan Carlson, Virginia Rutter, Amanda Miller,… Read more: CCF’s Stephanie Coontz for The New York Times: What Can Different-Sex Couples Learn From Same-Sex Couples? - Defining Consent Symposium
Defining Consent takes an unflinching look at the thorny question, what should count as consent to sexual activity – and what should not? In the process, scholars document how to hard it is to define consent or even sexual activity in a college setting. - KEYNOTE ESSAY: No Easy Answers: Can Colleges Define Consent and Reduce Unwanted Sex? || Stephanie Coontz & Paula EnglandDefining Consent Symposium Keynote No Easy Answers: Can Colleges Define Consent and Reduce Unwanted Sex? The Defining Consent Online Symposium (.pdf) was convened for the Council on Contemporary Families by Stephanie Coontz and Paula England,… Read more: KEYNOTE ESSAY: No Easy Answers: Can Colleges Define Consent and Reduce Unwanted Sex? || Stephanie Coontz & Paula England
- CCF’s Stephanie Coontz on Paying Stay-at-Home Parents in The New York Times
In a recent article for the New York Times, CCF Director of Research and Public Education Stephanie Coontz discusses the potential implications of paying stay-at-home parents, a role most often undertaken by women. Coontz notes, “without… Read more: CCF’s Stephanie Coontz on Paying Stay-at-Home Parents in The New York Times - Parents Can’t Go It Alone–They Never Have: What to Do for Parents to Help Our Next Generation
Parents Can’t Go It Alone introduces you to important new work about what parents need to meet their goals and successfully raise the next generation. - Why No One Can “Have It All” and What to Do About ItA briefing paper prepared by Kathleen Gerson, New York University, for the Council on Contemporary Families’ Symposium Parents Can’t Go It Alone—They Never Have. If debates about women’s rights, relationships between the sexes, and worsening… Read more: Why No One Can “Have It All” and What to Do About It
- New from CCF: Even Gender Inequality is Unequal
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Virginia Rutter / Sociology @ Framingham State University vrutter@gmail.com Sociologist Jill Yavorsky conducted a field audit on gender discrimination in hiring and shares this early exclusive summary and commentary with CCF.… Read more: New from CCF: Even Gender Inequality is Unequal - Hiring-related Discrimination: Sexist Beliefs and Expectations Hurt both Women’s and Men’s Career Options
Hiring-related Discrimination: Sexist Beliefs and Expectations Hurt both Women’s and Men’s Career Options A briefing paper prepared for the Council on Contemporary Families by Jill Yavorsky, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Organizational Science, University of… Read more: Hiring-related Discrimination: Sexist Beliefs and Expectations Hurt both Women’s and Men’s Career Options - Three Q: Per Coontz, Equality Is an agenda for all working people, not just feminists.3q: Per Coontz, Equality is an Agenda for All Working People, Not Just Feminists Virginia Rutter interviews Stephanie Coontz on the new Council on Contemporary Families brief, Hiring-related Discrimination: Sexist Beliefs and Expectations Hurt both… Read more: Three Q: Per Coontz, Equality Is an agenda for all working people, not just feminists.
- Same-Sex Couples Devote More Attention to End-of-Life Plans than Heterosexual Couples
A Research Brief Prepared for the University of Texas at Austin Population Research Center Research Brief Series Download a PDF of the Brief Mieke Beth Thomeer, Rachel Donnelly, Corinne Reczek, and Debra Umberson Introduction End-of-life… Read more: Same-Sex Couples Devote More Attention to End-of-Life Plans than Heterosexual Couples - Transgender Youth Allowed to Use Their Chosen Name Have Fewer Mental Health Problems
A Research Brief Prepared for the University of Texas at Austin Population Research Center Research Brief Series Download a PDF of the Brief Stephen T. Russell, Amanda M. Pollitt, Gu Li, and Arnold H. Grossman… Read more: Transgender Youth Allowed to Use Their Chosen Name Have Fewer Mental Health Problems - Perceptions of Shared Power, Gender Conformity, and Marital Quality in Same- and Different-Sex Marriages
A Research Brief Prepared for the University of Texas at Austin Population Research Center Research Brief Series Download a PDF of the Brief Amanda M. Pollitt, Brandon A. Robinson, and Debra Umberson Introduction Marriage is a… Read more: Perceptions of Shared Power, Gender Conformity, and Marital Quality in Same- and Different-Sex Marriages - Do Gay, Lesbian, and Heterosexual Spouses Differ in the Ways They Care for Each Other During Physical Illness?
A Brief Prepared for the University of Texas at Austin Population Research Center Debra Umberson, Mieke Beth Thomeer, Corinne Reczek, Rachel Donnelly, and Rhiannon A. Kroeger Introduction An important benefit of marriage may be… Read more: Do Gay, Lesbian, and Heterosexual Spouses Differ in the Ways They Care for Each Other During Physical Illness? - CCF’s Kuperberg and Walker Publish New Research on College Hookups
New research by CCF Board Member, Arielle Kuperberg, published with CCF Member Alicia Walker in the Archives of Sexual Behavior examines heterosexual college students who hook up with same-sex partners. This research, featured in Marie Claire,… Read more: CCF’s Kuperberg and Walker Publish New Research on College Hookups - CCF BRIEF: On August 26, 2017, Women’s Equality Day Turns 44
On August 26, 2017, Women’s Equality Day Turns 44. A fact sheet compiled for the Council on Contemporary Families by Nika Fate-Dixon and Stephanie Coontz, The Evergreen State College. Executive summary/advisory available. August… Read more: CCF BRIEF: On August 26, 2017, Women’s Equality Day Turns 44 - CCF ADVISORY: On August 26, 2017, Women’s Equality Day Turns 44ADVISORY: Women’s Equality Day Turns 44. Gains, stalls, and setbacks August 25, 2017, Austin, TX: Since 1973, August 26th has been designated as Women’s Equality Day, offering a chance to assess the current status… Read more: CCF ADVISORY: On August 26, 2017, Women’s Equality Day Turns 44
- Joanna Pepin and David Cotter: Trending Towards Traditionalism? Changes in Youths’ Gender IdeologyTrending Towards Traditionalism? Changes in Youths’ Gender Ideology A briefing paper prepared for the Council on Contemporary Families by Joanna R. Pepin, Department of Sociology, University of Maryland and David A. Cotter, Professor of Sociology,… Read more: Joanna Pepin and David Cotter: Trending Towards Traditionalism? Changes in Youths’ Gender Ideology
- The Date’s not Dead after all: New Findings on Hooking Up, Dating and Romantic Relationships in College
A Briefing Paper Prepared for the Council on Contemporary Families by Arielle Kuperberg, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Sociology, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Joseph E. Padgett, M.A., Doctoral Candidate in Sociology, University… Read more: The Date’s not Dead after all: New Findings on Hooking Up, Dating and Romantic Relationships in College - Josh Coleman and Barbara Risman weigh-in on the nation’s obsession with other peoples’ romances
In his New York Times opinion piece, Americans Put Too Much Weight in Romantic Love, CCF Board member Josh Colemen comments on the nation’s obsession with romantic relationships – reflecting on examples from the Clinton presidency and referencing fellow CCF-er Barbara Risman along… Read more: Josh Coleman and Barbara Risman weigh-in on the nation’s obsession with other peoples’ romances - CCF Symposium on Housework, Gender and Parenthood: Overview
CCF Symposium on Housework, Gender and Parenthood: Overview An introduction to the Council on Contemporary Families Online Symposium on Housework, Gender, and Parenthood by Stephanie Coontz, Council on Contemporary Families Director of Research and Public… Read more: CCF Symposium on Housework, Gender and Parenthood: Overview - The Tricky Business of Sorting Out Sexual Assault: An Introduction to The CCF Symposium On Intimate Partner Violence
THE TRICKY BUSINESS OF SORTING OUT SEXUAL ASSAULT: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CCF SYMPOSIUM ON INTIMATE VIOLENCE by Stephanie Coontz , Director of Research and Public Education, Council on Contemporary Families, and Faculty Member in History,… Read more: The Tricky Business of Sorting Out Sexual Assault: An Introduction to The CCF Symposium On Intimate Partner Violence - Brief: Back on Track? The Stall and Rebound in Support for Women’s New Roles in Work and Politics, 1977-2012
Six charts demonstrate a renewed progress towards gender equality starting around 2006. - Brief: It’s Not Just Attitudes: Marriage Is Also Becoming More Egalitarian
Husbands and wives who share similar levels of education now enjoy a lower risk of divorce than those in which husbands have more education—a trend consistent with a shift toward egalitarian marriages. - Brief: Overwork May Explain 10 Percent of Men’s Wage Advantage Over Women
The growing wage premium for long work hours slows progress toward gender equality. If the relative hourly wages for overwork had stayed constant between 1979 and 2007, the gender gap in wages would be about 10 percent smaller than it is today. - News from CCF: After a Puzzling Pause, the Gender Revolution Continues
The Council on Contemporary Families releases The Gender Revolution Rebound Symposium as public support for working mothers and dual-earner families is on the rise; new research suggests that in marriages formed since the early 1990s, men and women are much more happy with non-traditional arrangements than in the past. - Brief: Is the Glass Half Empty, or Three-Quarters Full?
This look at sexual frequency among younger couples in equal marriages refutes recent claims that when a man share the housework equally, it is bad for the couple’s sex life. - CCF Civil Rights Symposium: Women’s Changing Social Status since the Civil Rights Act
Today the Council on Contemporary Families releases the third set of papers in a three part symposium marking the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. The first two sets of papers described changes in America’s religious and racial-ethnic landscape in the half century since it became illegal to discriminate on the basis of religion, skin color, national origin, race, ethnicity or gender. - CCF Civil Rights Symposium: Dilemmas Facing High-Achieving Career Women
By Joan C. Williams University of California, Hastings College of the Law Fifty years after discrimination on the basis of sex was outlawed, women have made tremendous progress moving into high-level careers, but the glass… Read more: CCF Civil Rights Symposium: Dilemmas Facing High-Achieving Career Women - CCF Civil Rights Symposium: Civil Rights for Women, 1964-2014
By Max Coleman, Research Intern Council on Contemporary Families Fifty years ago, the United States adopted the Civil Rights Act, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, ethnic origin, religion, and gender. Women were a… Read more: CCF Civil Rights Symposium: Civil Rights for Women, 1964-2014 - “Can I watch?” Sometimes women kissing women isn’t about you
Is there more going on in the hookup scene than meets (men’s) eyes? The college hookup scene is typically understood as a male-dominated environment—where men are mainly in charge of sexual initiation, parties are often centered around fraternity houses, treating women as sex objects is common, and women engage in sexual displays, including kissing each other, in order to arouse male interest. Yet, in the forthcoming April 2014 issue of Gender & Society, a team of researchers observes that for some women the super-straight environment of college hookups is also a setting “to explore and to later verify bisexual, lesbian, or queer sexual identities.” Turns out public kissing and threesomes play an important role—and that not all of that sex play is about performing for men’s pleasure. - You’ve come a long way baby? Seeing men as more than sperm donors
Recent headlines such as “Men, Who Needs Them?” and “Why Fathers Really Matter” showcase a growing debate about the importance of including men in discussions of gender inequality. Two new studies from Gender & Society turn attention to areas in which men have long been ignored: at home, in the study of conception, pregnancy and childbirth, and at work, in the caregiving professions—particularly nursing. New research demonstrates under what conditions men’s contributions are slowly becoming more visible and what the benefits of that are (and can be). - CCF Equal Pay Symposium: 50 Years Since the Equal Pay Act of 1963
Fifty years ago this week, on June 10, 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act, amending the earlier Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, to “prohibit discrimination on account of sex in the payment of wages by employers.” So, how’s that going? - The Gender Pay Gap by Race and Ethnicity
On average, white women earn 81 percent of what white men make. At first glance it may appear that there is more gender equality among minority men and women than among whites. Hispanic or Latina women make 88 percent of what Latinos do and African American women make 90 percent of what their male counterparts make. But when we add race to gender, these pay gaps become a veritable chasm. Read more to find out. - Researchers find that your Social Status And Your Gender Influences How Others See Your Race
Researchers have long known that people make assumptions about people’s race based on social status cues, but a new study from Gender & Society demonstrates that observers take into account a wide range of factors in determining the race of people they see, including what they know about someone’s income, home address or marital status. - Leaning In Is Not the Same for Everyone: New Study on Women in “Men’s Jobs” Provides Discouraging Answers About the Impact of Overwork
MEDIA CONTACT: Virginia Rutter Framingham State University Sociology Phone: 206 375 4139 Email: vrutter@gmail.com Back in the 1800s, the U.S. labor movement aimed at reducing impossibly long working hours—and succeeded with the Adamson Act in 1916,… Read more: Leaning In Is Not the Same for Everyone: New Study on Women in “Men’s Jobs” Provides Discouraging Answers About the Impact of Overwork - The Rise of Women: The Growing Gender Gap in Education and What It Means for American Schools
According to the current brief report, “the most important predictor of boys’ achievement is the extent to which the school culture expects, values, and rewards academic effort.” Sociologists Claudia Buchmann (Ohio State) and Thomas DiPrete (Columbia University) present their in-depth findings on the much-debated reasons why women outstrip men in education—also the subject of their new book—in “The Rise of Women: The Growing Gender Gap in Education and What it Means for American Schools.” - New CCF Briefing Report: Why Males Lag Behind in Education – and Why “Boy-Friendly” Schools Aren’t the Fix
When did the gender gap begin? According to this CCF briefing report, some of the gender gap in schooling is new and some is not. For about 100 years, the authors explain, girls have been making better grades than boys. But only since the 1970s have women been catching up to—and surpassing—men in terms of graduation rates from college and graduate school. - Why Don’t Men Finish College as Often as Women? New Study Contests Idea that Men are just SlackersWomen now earn 58 percent of all undergraduate degrees. Not only do they enter college at higher rates than men, they are less likely to drop out once they enter. According to conventional wisdom, this is because men are less studious and committed to school than women. However, a new study, “Gender, Debt, and Dropping Out of College,” released this month in the journal Gender & Society, suggests quite a different reason for men’s dropout rates.
- Sexual Mystiques – Do we still like it old school?The last bastion of the feminine mystique may be a sexual mystique. Like the feminine mystique before it, the sexual mystique relies on the fantasy that men and women live in different worlds, and that these differences must be maintained for everyone to be turned on and sexually satisfied. According to this mystique a happy sex life requires a macho man who is in control and a woman who is charged up with desire, yet submissive and teachable.
