Working Fathers: Episode 5

What’s next for Australian fathers? In this episode, we look at the future of fatherhood. So far, one thing all of our guests seem to agree on is that, for many families, current arrangements aren’t working as well as they could. Expectations on men as fathers are expanding, but without much of a lessening of demands from employers. External factors, like climate change, will see an escalation of disasters that will put additional pressures on families. As people have children later, these demographic shifts mean that families will be less likely to be able to depend on grandparents to help out. In short, policies, practices and norms need to continue to evolve to support the needs of working dads and their families and move us towards more equal opportunities to share care, access more flexible work, and achieve greater family wellbeing.

Our guests in this episode are Professor Leah Ruppanner, Dr Carla Pascoe Leahy and Associate Professor Lee Gettler.

Professor Leah Ruppanner – University of Melbourne

Leah Ruppanner is a Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of The Future of Work Lab at the University of Melbourne. She was previously a Director of The Policy Lab at the University of Melbourne. Her research investigates gender and its intersection to inequalities, technologies and policies.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/leahruppanner

Website: https://www.leahruppanner.com/

Explore more of Leah’s work:

Landivar, Liana Christin, William J. Scarborough, Leah Ruppanner, Caitlyn M. Collins, and Lloyd Rouse. “Remote Schooling and Mothers’ Employment During the COVID-19 Pandemic by Race, Education, and Marital Status.” RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences 9, no. 3 (May 2023): 134–58. https://doi.org/10.7758/RSF.2023.9.3.06.
Yavorsky, Jill E., and Leah Ruppanner. “An Argument for Universal Preschool and Childcare in the U.s.” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 41, no. 3 (2022): 922–29. https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.22399.

Dr Carla Pascoe Leahy – University of Melbourne

Carla Pascoe Leahy is an Honorary Fellow at the University of Melbourne, Lecturer in Family History at the University of Tasmania, Joint Editor of Studies in Oral History journal, an Associate of the Contemporary Histories Research Group and an Honorary Associate at Museums Victoria.

Twitter: twitter.com/C_PascoeLeahy

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100011462891276

Explore more of Carla’s work:

C. Pascoe Leahy (2019), ‘Paid work and care work: Policy shifts and maternal experiences since the 1970s’, Australian Policy History Conference, Deakin University, 12-14 June 2019, broadcast on ABC Radio Big Ideas Program, https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/bigideas/australian-family-policy/11374502
C. Pascoe Leahy (2019), ‘Mothers explain how they navigated work and childcare, from the 1970s to today’, The Conversation, 27 May 2019.

Associate Professor Lee T Gettler – University of Notre Dame

Dr. Gettler is the Director of the Hormones, Health, and Human Behavior Laboratory at Notre Dame and a faculty affiliate of the Eck Institute for Global Health. Much of his early research focused on how men’s hormone physiology responds to major life transitions, such as marriage and fatherhood, and how men’s hormones relate to their behaviors as parents and partners. Working with collaborators at multiple global sites, he has expanded his focus to family systems and well being, including the psychobiology of motherhood and fatherhood, parents’ physical and mental health, and child growth, development, and physiology. Presently, Dr. Gettler works on research projects related to these interests in the United States, the Philippines, and the Republic of Congo.

Website: https://anthropology.nd.edu/people/faculty/lee-gettler/

Twitter: @leegettler

Explore more of Lee’s work:

The transcript for episode 5, including links to articles and reports, can be found here.