Vacancy number W11-228
Directed by Dr. Daniela Grunow, financed by the European Research Council (ERC). The postdoctoral research will be carried out at the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR), Programme Group Institutions, Inequalities and Internationalisation http://www.aissr.uva.nl/inequalities
General project description, APPARENT
The project assesses contemporary parenting norms and practices and their diffusion in seven European countries. The international collaboration includes Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Czech Republic and Poland. The project develops a comparative framework to study prevalent motherhood and fatherhood norms, images, identities and behaviour in current societies. The focus is on how mothering and fathering is constructed by professionals, welfare states, and popular media, and will assess how cultural and institutional norms and images are perceived and realized by expecting and new parents.
In 4 subprojects this study investigates
How standards of 'good' mothering and fathering are perceived, shaped and disseminated by professionals (gynaecologists, midwives, family councils);
How welfare states, labour markets and family policies target at mothers and fathers roles as earners and care givers, and how this has changed in recent decades;
How images of mothers and fathers roles have been portrayed in print media from 1980 until 2010;
How (expecting) mothers and fathers perceive, embody and represent parenting norms and images in their own work and family roles;
How new parents divide paid and unpaid work and how these divisions shape career patterns over the life course;
How these patterns differ cross-nationally.
Tasks
* Work in collaboration with the principal investigator assessing how welfare states, labour markets and family policies target at mothers and fathers roles as earners and care givers, and how this has changed in recent decades (using longitudinal data to assess career consequences in comparative perspective). The project will assess associations between national context and gender roles using multilevel regression.
* Experience with qualitative approaches to participate in the data collection of professional perceptions of new parent's roles.
Requirements:
* Doctoral Degree in the social sciences;
* Publications in peer-reviewed journals or with established academic publishers;
* Extensive experience with quantitative empirical research. Affinity with qualitative methods and techniques will be an asset;
* Demonstrable international experience and cross-cultural skills;
* Experience with research management is greatly appreciated;
* Excellent command of English and of at least one, preferably several, of the following languages: Dutch, German, Italian, Spanish, Czech, Polish;
* Willingness to teach in the Field of Social Sciences (in English).
Applicants should send their application, consisting of a motivation letter explaining their interest, Curriculum Vitae, samples of original work and two letters of reference, by email to application-soca-fmg@uva.nl before 31 December 2011. Please specify in the subject line of your email for which position you apply. All correspondence should be in English and by email.