Men’s Perspective in Unions, Fertility, and Parenthood

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Call for papers, 42nd Quetelet Conference 2016

Men’s perspective in unions, fertility and parenthood 9–10 November 2016

Centre for Demographic Research, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium Deadline: 31 May 2016

Researchers have become increasingly interested in men’s role within the family. One reason for this interest is that the massive participation of women in the labour market has not been accompanied by a substantial involvement of men in the family in terms of share of household tasks and care of children. Various explanations have been proposed for this gap. Some refer to gender stereotypes; others focus on the structure of the labour market; still others, on the lack of family policies, especially those which favour men’s involvement. Gender inequality may have important consequences for the marriage market, couples’ reproductive choices, and child development.

Besides concerns for gender inequality, many topics focusing on men have been underexplored in family research, yet are pressing, for instance, men’s preferences in unions and fertility, age limits for becoming a father (both biological and perceived), single fatherhood, and fatherhood in joint custody. Men’s perspectives in family dynamics have not been fully integrated into demographic and family research, with the attention tending to focus on women’s perspectives. This conference is an attempt to address this imbalance. Submitting a paper to the Quetelet Conference.

We invite paper submissions from a wide variety of disciplines, methodological approaches, and world regions. We welcome papers describing or explaining men’s role in fertility, mating, and parenting as well as focusing on mechanisms and ongoing changes. Papers may adopt a gender perspective and compare men and women on a specific family topic, with particular emphasis on men. Papers discussing historical populations are also welcome as they can enlighten the role of specific cultural and structural conditions in men’s involvement.

Authors are asked to submit a 1–2 page abstract (or a full paper) by 31 May 2016 to chairequetelet@uclouvain.be. Submissions should list the full names, affiliations, and email addresses of all co-authors. Authors will be notified of the status of their submission by 30 June 2016. After notification of acceptance, papers must be submitted by 15 October 2016.