Our mission is to increase the understanding of gender inequality and gender equity in the professions, in business, and in other demanding careers. We foster rigorous social scientific research that advances basic knowledge and supports the efforts of employers and policy makers to create more equitable and productive workplaces. We promote interdisciplinary conversations to integrate what is currently known about gender, work, and family and to assess future directions for exploration. We take into account that men's and women's professional opportunities are shaped by race, ethnicity, nationality and sexual identity as well as gender.  We promote in-depth studies of particular professions as well as broader comparative research across different professions and societies. We also support the work of young scholars in order to contribute to the continuing vitality of gender research.

Scholars and students at UCSD and beyond, employers and community members are invited to participate in Center events. Contact us to request to be added to our mailing list for news and announcements or to join as an affiliate. Learn more about our exciting programs and how you can support our work.

Mary Blair-Loy, Founding Director

News and Events

The Myth of the Ideal Worker

CRGP Founding Director Mary Blair-Loy and Senior Academic Affiliate Joan Williams discuss their recent research on the contemporary workforce in "The myth of the ideal worker: new workforce, outdated workplace," by Lauren Aguilar. Blair-Loy notes that the work devotion schema practiced by those in the highest positions in the organizational hierarchy reinforces the concept of the ideal worker and encourages very strict standards throughout the entire workplace, even though nearly half of married American couples live in dual-earner households. Williams argues that "flexibility stigma" explains employees' general lack of usage of available flexible workplace policies. This collaboration is part of a working group spanning multiple universities created by the Clayman Institute for Gender Research. Williams, Blair-Loy, and Jennifer Berdahl are the authors of "The Flexibility Stigma," which will be featured in the Journal of Social Issues special issue on flexibility bias.

Rhacel Parrenas to Present Talk Entitled "Queering International Marriage"

USC Professor Rhacel Parrenas will present in an event co-sponsored by CRGP and the UCSD Sociology Department Inequalities Workshop on Thursday, May 17, 2012, from 12:30 - 1:50 pm in Social Sciences Building, Room 101, UCSD. See the Speaker Series page for details and click here for a PDF flyer for this event. See the Inequalities Workshop flyer for the full schedule of speakers.

CRGP Affiliate Erin Cech Discusses Study of Alternative Work Policy

In "Better for profits, Better for workers: Results-Only Work Environments," Erin Cech, Postodoctoral Fellow at Stanford University's Clayman Institute for Gender Research, discusses the findings of a study conducted by sociologists Erin Kelly and Phyllis Moen. Kelly and Moen examined the implementation of "ROWE" (results-only work environment) arrangements in Best Buy's corporate headquarters, finding that it reduced turnover costs by nearly 50%. The idea behind the policy is that it does not matter where or how the work gets done, as long as it is completed on time. ROWE policies help all workers by providing them with more flexibility, but have the potential to especially help women, who often face the most conflict in balancing work and family life. Read the full article here.

Mary Blair-Loy Featured in Time Magazine

CRGP Founding Director Mary Blair-Loy is quoted on the topic of high-status stress and work devotion in Time Magazine's March 12, 2012 cover story entitled "10 Ideas That Are Changing Your Life." Author Judith Warner writes, "The very trappings of success can make life harder if you're the sort of driven, work-devoted person that high-status individuals tend to be. Take being able to set your own hours or work from home on occasion: it can be a dream for many but a nightmare for the hard chargers who feel compelled to answer every single e-mail, text or phone message, no matter when it comes or where they happen to be, says Mary Blair-Loy, founding director of the Center for Research on Gender in the Professions at the University of California at San Diego, who is currently researching workaholic men..." Professor Blair-Loy is also directly quoted regarding the "micro-impression management activities" that have become virtual requirements for those with high-status occupations. A PDF version of the article is available here.