Helen Norman

I completed my PhD ‘Involved fatherhood: an analysis of the conditions associated with paternal involvement in childcare and housework’ funded by an ESRC doctoral studentship (with a quantitative stipend) in Social Statistics at the University of Manchester in 2011. This was supervised by Professor Mark Elliot and Professor Colette Fagan.

My current role is a Research Fellow in Sociology, which involves advising the European Commission on gender equality policy as a member of the Scientific Analysis and Advice on Gender Equality in the EU team (SAAGE), and collaborating with Professor Colette Fagan (Vice President for Research) on other funded national and international research projects for the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the European Commission, the United Nation’s International Labour Office, the Korea Labour Institute and the European Trade Union Institute.

During 2014-15, I took a four month secondment to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) where I worked in the research team to gather quantitative data for the ‘Is Britain Fairer’ five-yearly review of equality and human rights progress in England, Scotland and Wales.

I have delivered various guest lectures for postgraduate research design courses in the Sociology department and in the Cathie Marsh Institute for Social Research, and was the course leader for the Postgraduate Taught course Research Design I (SOCY60401) (2014-18) before stepping down to take a 10 month period of maternity leave. I am also a member of the University of Manchester's Gender, Work and Care research group, the Work and Equalities Institute, the Work and Family Researcher Network, and the British and European Sociological Associations.

Key words: fathers and fatherhood, parenting, gender division of (paid and unpaid) labour, work-family reconciliation, gender inequalities, cross-national comparative research

My main research interests focus on fathers and fatherhood, the gendered division of labour and gender inequalities in work, employment and and family life. My PhD ‘Involved fatherhood: an analysis of the conditions associated with paternal involvement in childcare and housework’ (2011) examined what influences paternal involvement in childcare and housework nine months and three years after the child’s birth using cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses on the UK’s Millennium Cohort Study. I was awarded funding from the ESRC's Secondary Data Analysis Initiative (2016-17) to develop this research in order to establish what influences paternal involvement in childcare as children age from nine months to eleven years old. I am also interested in mothers' and their work-care trajectories after having children, as well as cross-national variations of work and employment, and care practices – and how policy, attitudes, workplace culture and other factors affect work-family reconciliation and the work-time of both men and women.

My research has been funded by the ESRC (doctoral studentship with quantitative stipend; Secondary Data Analysis Initative (SDAI) Phase 3 scheme), the European Commission - in my role as a member of the SAAGE (Scientific Analysis & Advice on Gender Equality in the EU) team (2016-18), and the former European Network of Experts on Gender Equality (ENEGE) (2012-15), - and the United Nation’s International Labour Office as part of a team researching barriers to quality part-time employment.

My publications address men and gender equality in family roles and social care jobs; paternal involvement in childcare; mothers’ employment patterns following childbirth; the benefits and limitations of part-time employment; flexible working; working time; and reconciliation policies to support childcare and eldercare in the UK and across Europe. 

I have co-authored several blogs and briefing papers on fathers, childcare, employment hours, gender role attitudes and parental leave (see 'blogs and briefing papers'). Our submission to the Women and Equalities Committee 2017 'Fathers and the Workplace' inquiry, which set out how policy can better support fathers to be more involved in their children's care, has now been published and was cited in the Women and Equalities Committee first report recommendations to Government. In 2014, I took part in a panel debate with the former shadow Minister for Childcare and Children – Lucy Powell – to discuss the role that childcare plays in promoting local growth. This was organised jointly by Policy@manchester and the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) North.

For further information about my policy engagement and knowledge exchange activities see:

Gender, Work and Care research group

Informing International Policies for gender equality