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Caitlyn Collins

Caitlyn Collins

Assistant Professor of Sociology

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Collins’ research examines the production and consequences of social inequality. Her current research explores gender inequality in the workplace and in family life. A book based on this research,  Making Motherhood Work: How Women Manage Careers and Caregiving was published February 2019 with Princeton University Press. Her research for the book included  a cross-national interview study of 135 working mothers in Sweden, Germany, Italy, and the United States. These four countries offer distinct policy approaches to reconciling work-family conflict. She examine how different ideals of gender, motherhood, and employment are embedded in these policies, and how they shape the daily lives of working mothers in these countries. Her research is supported by the National Science Foundation, American Association of University Women, and German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

 

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Collins to discuss ‘Great Resignation’ Feb. 16
Sociology

Collins to discuss ‘Great Resignation’ Feb. 16

Caitlyn Collins, assistant professor of sociology in Arts & Sciences, will join a panel of experts on Wednesday, Feb. 16, to discuss why millions of people quit their jobs last year and how the “Great Resignation” may shape work in the U.S. for years to come.
School closures ‘sideline’ working mothers
Sociology

School closures ‘sideline’ working mothers

New research shows that the gender gap between mothers and fathers in the labor force has grown significantly since the onset of the pandemic, especially in states where elementary schools primarily offered remote instruction.
Increase in Head Start funding ‘a national priority’
Sociology

Increase in Head Start funding ‘a national priority’

Increased funding for Head Start — the largest federally funded, early childhood development program in the United States — is needed to support families during the COVID-19 recession and to ensure a more stable economic recovery, according to research involving a sociologist at Washington University in St. Louis.
Collins’ book recognized for excellence in scholarly work
Sociology

Collins’ book recognized for excellence in scholarly work

“Making Motherhood Work: How Women Manage Careers and Caregiving” received the Association of American Publishers’ 2020 PROSE Award for anthropology, criminology and sociology. The book was written by Caitlyn Collins, assistant professor of sociology in Arts & Sciences.
How America’s family-hostile policies are hurting women and children
Sociology

How America’s family-hostile policies are hurting women and children

When it comes to family-friendly policies, the United States lags far behind most European countries — and practically every other industrialized nation. But work-family conflicts don’t need to be an inevitable feature of contemporary American life, suggests a new book by Caitlyn Collins, a sociologist at Washington University in St. Louis.

Books

Making Motherhood Work
Humanities & Society

Making Motherhood Work

How Women Manage Careers and Caregiving

The work-family conflict that mothers experience today is a national crisis. Women struggle to balance breadwinning with the bulk of parenting, and stress is constant. Social policies don’t help. Of all Western industrialized countries, the United States ranks dead last for supportive work-family policies: No federal paid parental leave. The highest gender wage gap. No […]