Name: "Opting Out?" Narratives of Non-Motherhood in our Era of Demographic Change
Start: 2026-03-17T12:30:00-07:00
End: 2026-03-17T14:00:00-07:00
Location: CK Choi Building - Room 120

"Opting Out?" Narratives of Non-Motherhood in our Era of Demographic Change

How and why do some individuals end up without children, and how are their paths to childlessness shaped by country context and gender?
About this Event

Bring your lunch and enjoy some snacks with the SPPGA community as Sociology Assistant Professor Holly Hummer provides a thought-provoking lunchtime talk that will draw on interview data with women in Japan and the United States who never had children for various reasons.

Speaker:

Dr. Holly Hummer is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of British Columbia. Her research focuses on the social mechanisms shaping individuals’ family and work pathways, particularly in our era of low fertility rates. Much of her current work examines women’s childlessness in various postindustrial contexts such as the United States and Japan. She primarily uses qualitative methods, such as in-depth interviews in multiple languages, to capture the complexities inherent in reproductive and employment experiences and decisions.