Working Fathers Mini-series. Ep 4 - Give Dads a Break

We are pleased to bring you a special five episode podcast series Working Fathers created by Professor in HPS Cordelia Fine, political philosopher Associate Professor Dan Halliday, social psychologist, Dr Melissa Wheeler and historian Dr Annabelle Baldwin.

In Episode 4, Give Dads a Break, we look at more of the pressures that prevent fathers from being active and equal caregivers in their children’s lives. In particular, we look at the gender norms that dictate what it means to be a good man, and the social norms that dictate what it means to be a good worker – and ask what this means for fathers’ capacity to be more active caregivers in their children’s lives. We also look at the experiences of men who defy these norms, the policies that can help shift them, as well as some of the potential benefits of change for dads, partners and families.

Special guests for this episode are:

• Dr Carla Pascoe Leahy, Honorary Fellow at the University of Melbourne, Lecturer in Family History at the University of Tasmania, Joint Editor of Studies in Oral History.
• Professor Leah Ruppanner, Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of The Future of Work Lab at the University of Melbourne.   
• Professor Miranda Stewart, Professor of Law at the University of Melbourne and Fellow at the Tax and Transfer Policy Institute at the Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University. 

A full transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.hpsunimelb.org/post/working-fathers-mini-series-ep-4-give-dad-s-a-break

The Working Fathers Podcast was funded by the Faculty of Arts and the School of Historical & Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. The creators of the podcast are also very grateful for the support of external partners, the Women’s Leadership Institute of Australia and the Trawalla Foundation.

Thanks for listening to The HPS Podcast. You can find more about us on our website, Bluesky, Instagram and Facebook feeds. 

This podcast would not be possible without the support of School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne and the Hansen Little Public Humanities Grant scheme.

Music by ComaStudio.
Website HPS Podcast | hpsunimelb.org