Postdoctoral Fellows

Elizabeth C. Rudd

Elizabeth Rudd After completing her doctorate in Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, Elizabeth C. Rudd joined CEEL as a postdoctoral researcher to conduct ethnographic studies of how middle-class American families identify and resolve conflicts between work goals and family life. This research grew out of her dissertation, "Coping with Capitalism; gender and the transformation of work-family conflicts in former East Germany." "Coping with Capitalism:" focused on how the transition from state socialism to welfare capitalism changed conflicts between work goals and family life in former East Germany, and demonstrated that people identify and respond to these conflicts with reference to the broader context of social differentiation and stratification. At CEEL, her research focuses on taking time off work to achieve a goal for family life or meet a family need in a sample of middle-class American families. Research will explore processes leading to take time off work and the consequences for leave-takers and other involved people. Particular instances of taking time off work will be analyzed to answer general questions motivating this research, such as: How do middle-class American families identify and define conflicts between work and family goals? What meaning are constructed to accommodate, legitimate, and justify different strategies of responding to conflicting demands of work and family life? How are these meanings and strategies related to the broader context of social solidarity, differentiation, and stratification within which individuals pursue a variety of work and family goals?