Students with children. Caught up in the conflict between gender-egalitarian ideals and traditional gender roles?

Abstract

Over the past decades, there has been an increase in highly educated adults putting off the processes involved in starting a family to a later point in their biography. Family and parenting models have also become increasingly diverse as a result of laws on gender equality as well as a greater number of women participating in the labour market. However, the birth of a first child within a relationship that has up to that point been egalitarian often results in a return to a more traditional division of labour between men and women. In this paper, decision-making processes involved in starting a family while studying are investigated on the basis of guided interviews with 16 female students who already have a child. Additionally, the parenting arrangements of partners in the early years of their child's life are analyzed with regard to the question as to what influence gender-egalitarian ideals and traditional gender roles have on this group of highly educated parents.