Francine M. Deutsch

Professor of Psychology and Education

Specialization
The social psychology of gender in everyday life; gender equity at home and in the labor market and its effects on women's well-being in a global economy

Social psychologist Francine Deutsch's research focuses on issues of gender justice. From gender equality and the division of domestic labor in the contemporary American family to the status of child care workers around the world, Deutsch analyzes and researches how people react to gender, how people make sense of it, and how they strive to construct better lives.

Deutsch's book, Halving It All: How Equally Shared Parenting Works (Harvard University Press, 1999), received widespread publicity, including coverage on NPR's Morning Edition and a mention on Oprah.

The author of more than 30 published articles, Deutsch has also studied male responses to female competence, friendship and the development of self-schemas, double standards and aging, information-seeking and maternal self-definition during the transition to motherhood, aspects of friendship among females, and and the dynamics of the only child family in contemporary China. Journals publishing her works include Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Journal of Family Issues, Journal of Comparative Family Studies, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Sex Roles, and the Psychology of Women Quarterly.

Prior to joining the Mount Holyoke faculty, Deutsch taught at Vassar and Bates Colleges, LaGuardia Community College, and St. Lawrence University. In addition, Deutsch has held four research positions, including one as senior research associate at New York University, where she studied women during pregnancy and after the birth of their first child.

News Links:

"Fran Deutsch on Work and Family," Wall Street Journal, March 1, 2007

"Francine M. Deutsch: Exploring Parenthood and Exploding Myths," Vista, spring 2000

"Francine Deutsch Book Halving It All Explores Couples Who Make Equally Shared Parenting a Reality," College Street Journal, March 26, 1999