Teaching Family? Care/Work Policy in Selected Family Courses in Canada’s Research-Intensive Universities

Abstract

To what degree is explicit care/work policy taught in family courses in Canada’s leading research-intensive universities? We analyze family courses in sociology departments and in political studies and women’s/gender studies programs in Canada’s 15 R1 universities to make a contribution to the scholarship of teaching and learning. This national scan marks a methodological innovation from curriculum studies that generally adopt a single-program or single-site focus. From a Canadian universe of 74 family courses, we identify 15 whose formal course calendar description explicitly addresses care/work family policy (measures to reconcile caring for young children with employment, through early learning and childcare, parental leaves, and child benefits). Sociology predominates among courses where family policy is taught, yet care/work policy content is not common. Given growing concerns about the care crisis and the care deficit in Canada, the low profile of care/work family policy content in family courses is significant. This study sheds light on the value of national postsecondary education curricular reviews and suggests that family curriculum renewal is warranted.