A Comparison of the Four Countries: an Overview

Conclusion

The individual country reviews as well as this brief overview and synthesis confirm that we are in a state of social transition in gender roles and have not sufficiently adapted to the transition we are experiencing. Individual countries are responding with varying levels of social support. Employers are also responding with partial, but not sufficient workplace flexibility. Gender role attitudes are changing, but in some cases women are reluctant to relinquish the power they have traditionally retained in the home and men are not easily responding to female requests for domestic sharing; the latter phenomenon is in part related both to men’s perceived as well as actual demands of the workplace and their perception of the male role.

There is clearly a need for more information in all of these areas so as to gain greater understanding of the processes operating as well as to help inform developing social policy, both at the workplace and at governmental level. We hope through the collection and analysis of comparative data in the present study to add to this understanding.