# GENDER AND THE DISRUPTION OF LIFE COURSE STRUCTURE

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · 1991 · $163,985

## Abstract

The overall aim of the proposed research is to examine the effects of
disruption to the structure of the life course on women and men in mid-
life.  It is proposed that this aim be carried out through the study of
involuntary childlessness as an event that disrupts the life course.
Parenting is viewed as one of the major tasks of adulthood, and is a
normative life course transition that is scheduled socially and culturally
for the period between early adulthood and mid-life.  It has been suggested
that parenthood constitutes a pivotal state of the human life cycle,
organizing the form and content of the stages that lead up to it, as well
as those that succeed it.  The central focus of the research will be on the
personal experience and interpretation of involuntary childlessness, or
infertility, as a disruption to the expected course of life.  Of those who
seek medical treatment, only one-half will eventually become biological
parents.  Such disruption may bring about an unscheduled life transition by
depriving the individual of a major set of life experiences and disturbing
the personal system of understanding the world and one's place in it,
thereby striking at a basic level of identity.

The proposed 36-month study has three specific aims, to be carried out by
interviewing members of the couples, both separately and together, using
the individual as the unit of analysis:  1) To examine the personal meaning
and experience of unwanted childlessness in relation to continuity and
change in mid-life, using primarily qualitative methods and some
quantitative measures.  2) To examine infertility as a loss through five
related themes:  a) changing age norms and delayed childbearing; b) the
failure of an anticipated life transition to occur; c) the relationship
between parenthood and generativity; d) the relationship between the
structure of the life course and gender identity; and e) the redefinition
of a social problem as a health problem.  3) To examine the full range of
this disruption to the life course over time and by ethnic and class
variation, by studying 125 men and 125 women who are marital partners in
five groups of respondents (each N=50, total N=250).

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3120772
- **Project number:** 1R01AG008973-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
- **SAM.gov UEI:** KMH5K9V7S518
- **Principal Investigator:** GAY BECKER
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1991
- **Award amount:** $163,985
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 1991-02-15 → 1994-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3120772

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3120772, GENDER AND THE DISRUPTION OF LIFE COURSE STRUCTURE (1R01AG008973-01A1). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3120772. Licensed CC0.

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