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Exploring the information contexts of young fathers in two British Columbian cities

University of British Columbia

Young fathers are situated in a unique information context and have specific information needs which have not been explored in research to date. There are disproportionate amounts of services and information resources available for young mothers versus young fathers; this imbalance of supports reflects gendered inequalities in parenting by assuming that the mother is the primary caregiver. Using data from the longitudinal Young Parents Study, this thesis explores the information contexts of young fathers and shows that young fathers encounter exclusion from parenting documents, young parent programs and services and from their communities. It is the conjecture of this thesis that young fathers are often overlooked as parents due to the gendered nature of parenting information delivery. Young fathers also encounter challenges asking for help with parenting, in part due to masculine gender role values such as self-reliance. This thesis also compiles responses from young fathers and service providers proposing interventions to improve information access for young dads at services, with the intention that being informed fathers will enable them to be more empowered parents.

Text

2018-04-18

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/65463

Library and Information Studies

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/