Research project explores the world of stay-at-home dads

A University of Queensland sociology honours student is looking for stay-at-home fathers or men who are primary caregivers to take part in a research project.

Emily Stevens’ Twenty-first Century Dad: An Exploration of Media Discourse and Subjectivities of Stay-at-Home Fathers research will look at the experiences of stay-at-home dads and their understandings of media representations of fatherhood.

“About 3.4 per cent of couple families with children under the age of 15 have a stay-at-home father, and this number is continuing to increase,” Ms Stevens said.

“It is important to tell the stories of Australian stay-at-home fathers in 2013 and to explore how they negotiate their identities in a world that is dominated by the popular media.

“It will not only raise cultural awareness in regard to this growing social group, but it will shed light on the way that these men actually interpret, negotiate and contest the messages portrayed in the media in relation to their own identities,” Ms Stevens said.

Ms Stevens will conduct one-on-one 45-minute interviews to enable participants to share their stay-at-home father experiences and to discuss their impressions of a range of news media programs.

Ms Stevens said she was seeking stay-at-home fathers who were not in full-time paid work outside the home and who were the primary caregiver of any children aged under six years.

For more information or to participate in this study, contact Emily Stevens on (M): 0413 078 914 or (E): emily.stevens1@uqconnect.edu.au