Na próxima terça-feira, dia 7 de Fevereiro, o Ciclo de Seminários do GI LIFE contará com a participação de Magdalena Żadkowska, Professora da Universidade de Gdansk (Polónia).

Título: The “empty nest phase” in a life-course perspective. The case of Poland

Resumo: Families grow and decrease in size and adjust to new situations during the life cycle. One of the most significant changes that lead to a reconfiguration of familial roles and interactions is the process of emptying the nest, i.e., the time when adult children leave the family home. While many psychological studies have investigated this period of a family life cycle (Duvall 1971, Feeney, Peterson & Noller 1994, Liberska 2014), sociological studies of this phenomenon are less common. A large body of literature has analysed whether the empty nest phase results in increased or decreased psychological well-being, particularly in the context of role-strain and role-loss theory (Bouchard 2014). The project Polish National Science Center Sonata Bis 8: Till death do us part… Everyday life practices of 50-64 years old couples with at least 20 years of common life experience, UMO-2018/30/E/HS6/00159 consisted of 5 waves of studies and over 130 in-depth interviews with parents of adult children who have left family household, done in Poland between 2019 and 2021. Our project provides an analysis that replaces the dichotomic approach to the empty nest phase of family life with a more nuanced and processual perspective within the frame of life course studies (Aeby & Gauthier 2021; Cooney 2022; Dewilde 2003; Elder 1995). We do present the entire spectrum of experience that this life stage involves. Our research shows that the commonly contradicted perspectives of role-strain and role-loss (Borland 1982; Bouchard 2014a; Bouchard & McNair, 2016; Thibodeau & Bouchard, 2020) should not be treated as mutually exclusive, as the transition to the empty nest phase is accompanied by many ambivalences. Parental involvement and support coexist with the growing individualisation of parents who want to pursue their own interests and a sense of loss is usually accompanied by a sense of relief.

Short-bio: Magdalena Żadkowska is PhD in Sociology, Assistant Professor, and principal investigator at the Sociology Institute at the University of Gdańsk. Her research interests focus on women and men carriers in STEM, diversity management, intimate relations, and gender studies. She has been cooperating in several international research projects in Europe (UK, Norway, Italy and France) and America (USA, Canada, Chile). She is the PI of the project “Till death do us part… Everyday life practices of 50-64 years old couples with at least 20 years’ of common life experience” and an active researcher of several research projects, such as “MASCULINITY NAVIGATOR – unpacking the relationship between masculine roles, well-being, and gender equality” (EQUAMAN), “MINDtheGEPs Modifying Institutions by Developing Gender Equality Plans”, and “NCN Toward Gender Harmony – Understanding the Relationship between Masculinity Threat and Gender Equality Across Cultures”.

O seminário decorrerá na sala 2 do ICS-ULisboa, e será transmitido em reunião Zoom através do seguinte link:

https://videoconf-colibri.zoom.us/j/98909020826?pwd=WlJQWXZVUkY0cS8vT1VV...

ID da reunião: 989 0902 0826

Senha de acesso: 213203