Answer both questions. The page limit for each question is up to 3 typed pages (up to 6 pages total for the entire exam) Make sure to support your answers with properly formatted in-text citations throughout.

Guidelines:

• Use your own words and do not quote directly from class texts.
• Keep to the page limit.
• The work you turn in must be your own and original for this exam; do not collaborate, share drafts or discuss your answers with other students.
• Number your answers and combine them into one document.

Tips:

• Make sure you address each point specified in the prompts.
• Strive for clarity in your writing by using simple, jargon-free language.
• Proofread and edit your work.

1. A major theme of our class this semester has been to consider how social class and culture influence parenting practices, beliefs, family relationships and contribute to different outcomes for children. Explain how social class and/or culture shape and constrain specific parenting beliefs, practices, family relationships and outcomes in three of the following readings: Edin & Kefalas, Lareau & Weininger, Lee & Zhou, Zhou, and Lee & Lee. Next, discuss common threads or differences you see across the different readings in terms of the influence of social class and culture, and their interactions with other social structural factors on families.

1. Becoming a parent currently affects men and women’s careers differently in that motherhood is associated with lower earnings and less prestigious careers while fatherhood is not. Explain why this is, and the patterns associated with women’s professional careers, according to Mason & Eckman’s Mothers on the Fast Track, along with anything else you think is relevant to bring in from the course. Then, discuss how the situation might change with the adoption of different work/family policies at a national level. Explain what might make a difference and how, supporting your points by referencing Pettit and Hook’s work from Gendered Tradeoffs.