Example employment dissertation topic 6:

The rise of the stay-at home dad: An employment/lifestyle revolution?

Commenting on the social realities of council estate life in the 1950/60s, academics such as Hacon and Colls note that with increasing numbers of young women seeking to work those who were left upon the newly constructed municipal estates were ‘isolated’ and suffered from ‘new town blues’. Fifty years later, the dominant employment model within the UK is once more changing dramatically. With the absolute decline of heavy industry, and the rise of service industries, the end of 2012 has witnessed the largest ever number of stay-at-home fathers. This dissertation seeks to evaluate not only the long term employment trends that have led to this, but also to analyse the effects of this change on gender perceptions within families through the use of primary interviews.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Gaunt, R. (2012). ‘Breadwinning moms, caregiving dads: Double standard in social judgments of gender norm violators’. Journal of Family Issues (ahead-of-print).
• Doucet, A. (2004). ”It’s almost like I have a job, but I don’t get paid’: Fathers at home, reconfiguring work, care, and masculinity. Fathering: A Journal of Theory, Research, and Practice about Men as Fathers, vol. 2(3), pp. 277-303.
• Merla, L. (2008). ‘Determinants, costs, and meanings of Belgian stay-at-home fathers: An international comparison’. Fathering: A Journal of Theory, Research, and Practice about Men as Fathers, vol. 6(2), pp. 113-132.