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This study was planned and conducted in order to determine parents' gender roles and their influence on children and their attitudes towards responsibility. The study involved 600 people (405 men, 195 women) selected through a random sampling method from a total of 3536 staff from Hacettepe University. The instruments used in this study consisted of 4 parts: personal information survey, responsibility and satisfaction surveys, and the adapted Turkish version of the Bern Sex Role Inventory (BSRT). Two-way ANOVA (2 x 4 factorial design) methods were used for the research questions. According to the results of the study, it is evident that mothers are more involved in childcare than fathers. However, gender roles, classified as "androgynous", "masculine", "feminine" and "undifferentiated", do not seem to have a significant effect on the amount of time a parent spends with his/her children.
Keywords: gender roles, gender, distribution of responsibility, childcare, Bern Sex Role Inventory.
It is important to recognize that time is the central organizing feature of a family's activities. The growing diversity in work schedules has changed the amount of time that family members have together, and may be radically changing family life. Not only are mothers spending less time with their children than in the past because of their employment, and children less time with their fathers because of increased separation and divorce, but even mothers, fathers, and children in intact families are spending less time together as a family unit because parents work different hours or days (Presser, 1989).
It is well recognized tiiat Turkey is in a process of rapid change. During this process, the attitudes of men and women towards gender roles are changing in step with other attitudes as well (Ersoz, 1999). Nevertheless, in Turkey, men are still observed to possess more traditional gender role attitudes than women. Although a woman's participation in the business world can lead to improvements in a couple's relationship with each other and thus change concepts related to die roles and responsibilities of a man and woman, studies done in Turkey and otiier countries on this issue reveal that most of the domestic tasks and childcare are still carried out by women (Atalay, Kontas, & Beyazit, 1993; Barnett & Baruch, 1987; Berk & Berk, 1979; Frank, 2004;...