Constance Shehan

My research and teaching focus on my interests in gender, families, work, and aging. Much of my research has examined women’s experiences in “work” (both paid labor and unpaid labor in the home), highlighting the causes and consequences of the gendered division of household and family labor and the relationship between women’s work and health. Over the past several years, I’ve been examining the impact of the structural characteristics of jobs on personal and family well-being, focusing on women and men in the ministry. My newest projects focus on gender and aging, particularly women’s roles as caregivers to adult sons with HIV/AIDS and on aging women’s body images.

My research focuses on women’s experiences in “work” (both paid labor and unpaid labor in the home) and “family” life (written broadly to include a full range of intimate relationships and household living arrangements). Generally, I have pursued two basic themes: (1) the causes and consequences of the gendered division of household and family labor and (2) the relationship between women’s work and health. Over the past several years, I’ve been examining the impact of the structural characteristics of jobs on personal and family well-being, focusing on women and men in the ministry. Within the next few months I will begin a study of retired couples, focusing on the impact of job loss on men’s and women’s identities and psychological well-being.