Fertility Society of Australia
Media Release, Tuesday 2 September 2013
Better work and family balance should be taught in every university degree, says academic
Strategies to achieve a balance between career and parenting aspirations should be taught in universities to create better work and family outcomes in Australia, according to Marian Baird, Professor of Employment Relations at the University of Sydney.
She said young men in particular would benefit from a dedicated course in workplace and the family as part of their university degrees.
Speaking at a major fertility conference in Sydney, Professor Baird said a powerful ''motherhood culture'' still prevailed in Australia with overwhelming social pressure for women to provide primary care for children.
“We have conducted studies among students at the University of Sydney that show female students overwhelmingly choose their degree subjects to embark on careers that will allow them to balance work and family commitments,” she said.
“On the other hand, younger men tend not to consider family issues until confronted with the reality of their partner becoming pregnant.
“One young male student who participated in the study said he did not come to university for three or four years to look after children. So where does this leave female students?
“Government policies have been developed and are proposed to assist mothers and fathers to balance their work and family commitments. But there is still a huge cultural divide between policy objectives and reality.”
Professor Baird, a leading researcher in the fields of women, work and family, was speaking as part of the annual scientific meeting of the Fertility Society of Australia.
“If we really want change that will allow a better balance between work and family for men and women, it should be addressed directly within families, at school and in universities,” she said.
“All university degrees should feature a dedicated course of workplace and family balance. This would certainly help young people, and men in particular, to negotiate employment contracts that will deliver the best work and family outcomes.”
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The meeting addressed fertility trends in Australia with the one or two child family now dominating the social landscape. This compares with four children per family in the post World War 11 era that has given rise to the Baby Boomer generation that now represents 42 per cent of the Australian population.
Speaking at the fertility conference, leading Australian demographer, Professor Graeme Hugo, said while the decline in fertility rates had stabilised since the late 1970s, and even risen slightly in recent years, there were continuing constraints to couples achieving their ideal number of children.
“More family friendly Government policies and changes in workplace culture may help to address the disparity between the current fertility rate and the number of children couples aspire to have,” he said.
“It is important for men and women to have better choices on the mix of work and family elements in their lives,” he said.
“The current reality is that young men and women enter particular stages of their working and family lives with different expectations.
“Predominantly, women have to make choices that will enable a work and family balance because there is an expectation that they will be the primary carers. This is not the case for most men.”
Professor Hugo said for many women this meant deferring having children to fulfil career aspirations – with a growing trend of first time mothers in their 30s and early 40s – or sacrificing promotions and workplace opportunities to look after the family.
World leaders in assisted reproduction are attending the Fertility Society of Australia meeting at the Hilton Hotel. The meeting runs until Wednesday.
Interview:
Professor Marian Baird and Professor Graeme Hugo can be contacted for interview.
To arrange, please contact Trevor Gill, FSA Media Relations, on 0418 821948 or e-mail