Despite the entrance of women into the workforce and the blurring of once clearly defined gender boundaries, men and women live in a world where the demands of balancing parenting and work, autonomy and commitment, time and money are left largely unresolved. Gerson finds that while an overwhelming majority of young men and women see an egalitarian balance within committed relationships as the ideal, today's social and economic realities remain based on conventional--and now obsolete--distinctions between breadwinning and caretaking. In this equity vacuum, men and women develop conflicting strategies, with women stressing self-reliance and men seeking a new traditionalism.
Kathleen Gerson is Professor of Sociology and Collegiate Professor of Arts and Science at New York University. A recognized authority on work, gender, and family life, Kathleen is the author of five books and over fifty articles. She has participated in many public initiatives to foster equality at work and in the home, including the Council on Contemporary Families; the Ford Foundation Project on Integrating Work, Family, and Community; the Sloan Foundation Research Network on Work-Family Issues; and Catalyst's Advisory Board for "The Next Generation of Women Leaders." She contributes regularly to media such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, PBS, CNN, and National Public Radio.
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