Identifier

etd-11162006-110802

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Sociology

Document Type

Dissertation

Abstract

Using qualitative data gathering and analysis, the current trend of professional women leaving workforce to rear their children full-time is examined. Women in the second generation to enter the labor force in large numbers indicate that there are factors that push them out of the workforce, such as a non-family friendly workplace, and factors that pull them back home, such as a profound need to rear their own children. While the transition from professional to stay-at-home mother is a complex process, the women in this study deal with this identity shift, and its attendant resistance, by framing their change in terms with which they are familiar: success and achievement. Through these lenses, they are able to reconstruct motherhood roles, using a combination of traditional gender normative expectations and new expectations based on changes in the social structure over the past twenty to thirty years.

Date

2006

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Secure the entire work for patent and/or proprietary purposes for a period of one year. Student has submitted appropriate documentation which states: During this period the copyright owner also agrees not to exercise her/his ownership rights, including public use in works, without prior authorization from LSU. At the end of the one year period, either we or LSU may request an automatic extension for one additional year. At the end of the one year secure period (or its extension, if such is requested), the work will be released for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Michael D. Grimes

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.2434

Included in

Sociology Commons

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