Title: Gender: early socialization: Parents' socialization | Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development
Headings: Gender: early socialization
Gender: early socialization
Parents’ Socialization of Gender in Children
Introduction
Problems
Key Research Questions
Research Results
Parents’ gender-stereotypical expectations.
Parents’ gender-role modeling.
Parents’ differential treatment of daughters and sons.
Research Gaps
Conclusions
Implications for Parents, Service Providers, and Policy Makers
References

Content: In contemporary industrialized societies, most women with children work outside of the home. Men’s average involvement in childcare and housework has also increased, although domestic responsibilities continue to be handled mostly by women in most dual-career families. 6 Research finds that fathers’ childcare involvement is negatively related to children’s gender stereotyping. Through active involvement in childcare, fathers demonstrate that the adult male role may include nurturing as well as instrumental activities.7
The potential influence of parental gender-role modeling has also been implicated in studies of children raised by lesbian or gay parents. 8 Compared to children raised in two-parent heterosexual families, children raised by same-gender parents tend be less likely than to endorse certain gender stereotypes. However, when same-gender parents divided labor with one parent as primary caregiver and the other parent as the primary breadwinner, their children were more likely to express stereotyped views about adult roles and occupations. 8
Parents’ differential treatment of daughters and sons. In many parts of the world, parents with limited financial resources have a strong preference for sons. As a result, priority for resource opportunities ranging from health care to education may be given to sons over daughters. 9 This stark contrast in the differential treatment of sons and daughters is generally not seen in wealthier countries.