Narrow your search

Library

KU Leuven (2)


Resource type

book (1)

dissertation (1)


Language

English (2)


Year
From To Submit

2024 (1)

2021 (1)

Listing 1 - 2 of 2
Sort by

Book
Men who care : the internal route to men’s engagement in communal roles by the example of parental leave
Authors: --- --- ---
Year: 2021 Publisher: Leuven KU Leuven. Faculteit Psychologie en pedagogische wetenschappen

Loading...
Export citation

Choose an application

Bookmark

Abstract

Keywords


Dissertation
Fatherhood Uncharted: Examining the Associations Between First-Time Expectant Fathers’ Own and Workplace Prescriptive Male Stereotypes, Beliefs about the Father Role, and their Parental Leave Decisions Before Birth

Loading...
Export citation

Choose an application

Bookmark

Abstract

Governments in most developed economies have pursued programs to encourage working fathers to invest more in their parental responsibilities (OECD, 2011). This shift in policy provision is also part of a shift in public discourse about the nature of masculinity, fatherhood, and fathering practices toward more care-oriented attributes. However, it is debatable whether the change has resulted in broad, tangible increases in fathering practices (Miller, 2011). While there are examples of men who have decided to decrease or even give up their paid work to care for young children, most cases show that gender and organizational norms operate as traditional pressures for fathers to prioritize work (Mauerer, 2023). In the midst of this, less is known about the gender prescriptions fathers perceive others (e.g., coworkers, partners) to hold in relation to their parental leave decisions. Responding to this call, this thesis investigated, through an online survey, the relationship between the beliefs of working fathers about prescriptive male stereotypes and father roles in Belgium and their intentions for and expected length of parental leave prior to their first child’s birth. We hypothesized that fathers’ own views on prescriptive male stereotypes (i.e., what communal and agentic traits an ideal man is expected to hold) and their own beliefs about a father’s role (i.e., whether a father's responsibilities lie more in caregiving or financial provision) would be related to their parental leave intentions. We also expected that fathers' beliefs about their coworkers’ prescriptive masculine stereotypes and beliefs about the father role would moderate this relationship. The findings provided partial support for the relationship between men’s own communal prescriptive male stereotypes and their increased parental leave-taking intentions, as well as their agentic prescriptive male stereotypes and their shorter expected parental leave. However, we did not find expectant fathers’ perceptions of their coworkers’ prescriptive male stereotypes to be moderating any of these relationships. Also, we did not find men who believed in caregiving as a defining role of the father to predict their parental leave-taking intentions and length. All in all, the results suggest that communion, as part of male stereotypes, may be an important factor closely linked to expectant fathers’ increased intentions for and expected length of parental leave. We are unable to draw firm conclusions from the current study, however, as the sample was small, had a correlational design, and had low variability and ceiling effects across some variables. Further research is needed to further investigate whether men’s own beliefs and their perceptions of others in the workplace regarding prescriptions for ideal men and beliefs about the father role differently influence their parental leave decisions.

Keywords

Listing 1 - 2 of 2
Sort by