Fathers who do Chores Raise Daughters Who Aspire Higher Paying Careers

Father who help partners in daily household chores are more likely to raise daughters who aspire for higher paying careers, a new study reveals.

Researchers at the University of British Columbia reveal that fathers play a key role in shaping their daughters' professional ambitions.  In this finding the researchers highlight that sharing domestic chores positively shape attitudes and ambition of their children.

"This suggests girls grow up with broader career goals in households where domestic duties are shared more equitably by parents," says lead author Alyssa Croft, a PhD Candidate in the University of British Columbia's Dept. of Psychology. "How fathers treat their domestic duties appears to play a unique gatekeeper role."

If fathers publically endorsed gender equality and maintained a traditional division of household chores at home, their daughters took up more female-oriented jobs like nursing and teaching.

This finding is significant as it reveals that having gender equality at home is important to boost daughter's aspirations. The finding is based on a study conducted on 326 children of ages 7-13. The study also involved at least one of the parent.  For each household, the division of chores and paid labor was calculated.

The researchers also determined the career stereotypes the participants identified themselves with, their gender, work attitudes and their career aspiration.

Similar to previous findings, the researchers saw that mothers took up more household tasks than fathers.  It was women who were associated with domestic work and childcare and girls were more vulnerable to be like them as adults.

'Talking the talk' about equality is important, but our findings suggest that it is crucial that dads 'walk the walk' as well - because their daughters clearly are watching," says Croft,

It is from an early age that girls might be learning to take on traditional roles, rather than different roles when compared to boys.

The finding appears in the Psychological Sciences.