2024 American Sociological Association (ASA) Annual Meeting; Montreal, Canada

Conference: 2024 American Sociological Association (ASA) Annual Meeting in Montreal, Canada
 August 9 13, 2024

Presentation: “Reduced Housework, Persistent Inequality: How Do Extended Families Allow Men to Evade Housework Participation in China?”

REPORT:

Thanks to the support from Kellogg institute of international studies, I had the opportunity of attending and presenting at the 2024 American Sociological Association (ASA) conference in Montreal, Canada from August 9th to August 13th. This event is one of the most significant gatherings in the field of sociology, bringing together researchers, educators, and professionals to discuss cutting-edge research, theories, and methodologies in various sociological domains. The theme of this year's conference, Intersectional Solidarity: Building Communities of Hope, Justice, and Joy, as especially relevant to my research interests in gender inequality, family demography and intergenerational dynamics, and the sessions provided invaluable insights into contemporary sociological discussions.

Overall, it was a fruitful experience. I presented my paper “Reduced housework, persistent inequality: How do extended families allow men to evade housework participation in China?” at the session Gender Inequality: Agency, Mobility, and Prestige. The presentation went really well. I started with a puzzle: although women broadly choose to live in extended families as a strategy to handle their intensive work-family conflicts in contemporary China, why living in extended families allows men to reduce their housework disproportionately more than women? 

Using interview data, I illustrated how the primary cultural goal of making life manageable while encouraging women to turn to their parents or parents-inlaw for help, in fact, suppresses women’s intentions to resist gender gap in housework through everyday interactions. Integrating both cultural and gender perspectives, I further explained how these findings contributed to an advanced knowledge of the persistence of gender inequality in the private sphere and how cultural variation could influence of resilience of unequal division of household labor. 

Following my presentation, audiences and scholars in this session have expressed great interest in my research topics and findings. I received valuable suggestions and feedback, particularly on refining my theoretical framework, improving interpretations of my findings, and thinking about how my results could be extended into other cultural contexts. I have attached one picture of my presentations (Figure 1) and my slides (Appendix 1) at the end of this report.

Besides, I have attended several sessions related to my research fields, including Family and Kinship in East Asia, Family and Work, Gendered Access and Opportunity, Asian Societies in Transition, Labor Market and so on. During these sessions, I have taken 8-page notes in total and actively engaged in Q&A sessions to interact with speakers and to deepen my understanding of their research. By attending these sessions, I not only collected numerous ideas for future projects but also have established some connections and conversations with experts in my research fields. All of these, I believe will facilitate my future research careers.

Overall, attending the ASA conference in Montreal was an enriching experience. The diverse range of presentations, panels, and networking opportunities provided me with a wealth of knowledge and insights that will significantly benefit my future research. I look forward to applying the concepts and methodologies I learned to my own work, and I am excited about the potential collaborations that emerged from this conference.