We've come a long way,maybe: College students' plans for work and family

Young men and women today face considerable choices as they plan for family and work. We explore college students' educational preparations, as well as their attitudes, orientations, and expectations for work and family. Although we find some changes toward a more gender-equal society, we also find potential conflicts which these individuals will have to face as they attempt to combine work and family roles. Women and men are doing equally well in college, both men and women have equal commitments to work roles, and both value family. However, both men and women expect that women will play a more prominent role in the family and men a stronger role in the workplace. The orientation and plans of these college students do not anticipate symmetrical relationships in which both men and women share household and work responsibilities.We are grateful to Brenda K. Hawks, Sue Curry Jansen, and Judith Lasker for their careful readings of earlier drafts of this paper. Special thanks go to the students in SR377/477 for their major contribution in collecting the data which are analyzed herein.