Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Meaning and Evaluation of Fathers in the Professional Workplace

在其他条件相同的情况下，有孩子的男性比没有孩子的男性和在职场上的所有女性挣得多，这种现象被称为“父亲工资溢价”。此外，调查研究表明，某些父亲，即那些已婚、白人、与孩子密切相关的父亲，比其他人享有特权。个人层面的解释，如积极选择和生产力，并不能完全解释父亲的收入优势或这种优势的变化。雇主偏见经常被引用，尽管很少经过实证检验，作为在专业工作场所给予父亲高于非父亲和某些父亲高于其他人特权的一个重要因素。本论文项目考察了父亲在工作场所偏好的轮廓，并关注了我们对父亲如何、为什么以及哪些父亲在工作场所具有优势的理解中的几个关键差距。本研究的主要目的是分析：(1)职业职场中父亲对子女的投入程度如何被评估；(2)如何评估不同种族/民族背景的父亲的参与程度；(3)在没有明确参与程度的情况下，如何评估不同种族/民族背景的父亲；(4)雇主特征（包括性别、种族和父母身份）如何影响专业工作场所父亲的评价。本研究通过实验小插图研究和半结构化访谈研究来实现这些目标。该实验考察了一个有代表性的受雇成年人样本如何在专业工作场所的背景下评估父亲。半结构化访谈研究通过对雇主进行访谈来确定对工作场所父亲的意义、假设和刻板印象，从而扩大了实验。本研究可望在理论和实证两方面对众多文献有所贡献。具体来说，社会学上的父亲工资溢价文献将受益于对雇主偏见的澄清，这种偏见导致了工作场所不平等的模式持续存在，但人们对其知之甚少。此外，这项研究准备挑战更广泛的关于“理想员工”理论的文献。通过实证分析在专业工作场所中受青睐和享有特权的理想员工的构成差异，这项研究有可能改变我们对谁是理想员工及其原因的想当然的理解。更广泛的影响拟议研究的结果将在学术界内外都很有用。在学术文献中，该项目将有助于我们理解工作场所的某些优势等级。这项研究的总体重点是基于性别和种族的工作场所偏见和歧视，因此也将有助于应用和实际目的。在有效宣传和传播结果的情况下，这项研究有可能促使采取行动并鼓励各组织认真评价它们自己的工作场所模式和做法。在这样做的过程中，项目结果有望将工作场所不平等的关键但可能在很大程度上未被察觉的根源暴露在工作场所内部和工作场所之间。

SES-1332633Melissa MilkieKathleen DennyUniversity of Maryland College ParkAll else being equal, fathers earn more than childless men and all women in the professional workplace, a phenomenon referred to as the "fatherhood wage premium." Moreover, survey research shows that certain fathers, namely those who are married, white, and highly involved with their children, are privileged over others. Individual-level explanations, such as positive selection and productivity, do not fully explain fathers' earnings advantage or variation in that advantage. Employer bias is often cited, though rarely empirically examined, as an important factor responsible for privileging fathers over non-fathers and certain fathers over others in the professional workplace. This dissertation project examines the contours of father preference in the workplace and attends to several critical gaps in our understanding of how, why, and which fathers are advantaged in the workplace. The primary research objectives are to analyze: (1) how fathers' level of involvement with their children is evaluated in the professional workplace; (2) how level of involvement is evaluated for fathers of different racial/ethnic backgrounds; (3) how fathers of different racial/ethnic backgrounds are evaluated without involvement level specified; and (4) how employer characteristics, including gender, race, and parental status, influence evaluations of fathers in the professional workplace. The study addresses these objectives through an experimental vignette study and a semi-structured interview study. The experiment examines how a representative sample of employed adults evaluates fathers in the context of the professional workplace. The semi-structured interview study augments the experiment by interviewing employers to determine the meanings, assumptions and stereotypes held about fathers in the workplace. This research is expected to contribute both theoretically and empirically to multiple literatures. Specifically, the sociological fatherhood wage premium literature will benefit from a clarification of the consequential yet poorly understood role of employer bias that perpetuates a pattern of workplace inequality. Further, the research is poised to challenge the broader literature on the theory of the "ideal worker." By empirically analyzing variation in what constitutes an ideal worker who is favored and privileged in the professional workplace, this research has the potential to transform our taken-for-granted understanding of who embodies the ideal worker and why.Broader ImpactsFindings from the proposed study will be useful both within and outside of academia. Within the academic literature, the project will contribute to our understanding of certain advantage hierarchies in the workplace. The research will also serve applied and practical purposes given its overall focus on gender- and race-based workplace bias and discrimination. With effective publicizing and circulation of results, this research has the potential to induce action and encourage organizations to seriously assess their own workplace patterns and practices. In doing so, project results are expected to bring critical yet likely largely unperceived sources of workplace inequality to light within and across workplaces.