Susan Prentice Ph.D. Professor
email: Susan_Prentice@umanitoba.ca
Ph.D. York University 1993
MES, York University 1987
BA, University of Toronto 1985
My research program begins with my concerns about social inequality and social change, with particular interest in public policy and systemic discrimination. I work in two broad areas of scholarship, each of which I undertake with a critical focus on gender relations. I am trained as an historical sociologist, and so try to bring an historical as well as a sociological imagination to my work
My primary specialization is contemporary and historical childcare policy and advocacy. Childcare provides a window into state-society relations at the exact moment where family, women's work, social policy and the state, market forces/privatization, and social movement organizing intersect, and these have been the focus of my research program. My secondary arena of specialization is higher education, where I am keen to understand how formally neutral institutions co-exist with inequality and marginalization.
My research program has recently turned to European policy debates and social movement struggles to promote and defend work-family reconciliation in hard economic times. I spent 2010-2011 in France, as a Senior Fellow at the Collegium de Lyon, Institut des Etudes Avancés, Ecole Normale Supérieure, and will be returning to France in Spring 2012.
As part of my research program, I work closely with social movements. I believe community-university collaboration is a site of exciting scholarship and knowledge generation and that applied work with social movements is important. A considerable portion of my communication and dissemination work is oriented to popular audiences, social movements, elected officials and decision makers.
At the undergraduate level, I teach Family (SOC 2460) and Introduction to Sociology (SOC 1200), and often teach the undergraduate Honours Seminar, Critical Issues (SOC 2010) and Sociology and Feminist Theory (SOC 3350). At the graduate level, I have taught Classical Sociological Theory (SOC 7430), and co-taught Feminism and Sociological Theory (SOC 7190) with Dr. Elizabeth Comack. Over 2010, I offered a new graduate course, Theory and Practice of Public Sociology (click for course materials). Please feel free to contact me for copies of other course syllabi.
I enjoy working with Honours and Graduate students inside and outside Sociology. I have worked with MA and PhD students in Anthropology, Applied Health Sciences, City Planning, Economics, Education, English, History, Inter-Disciplinary Studies, Political Studies, Rural Studies and Social Work, as well as Sociology.
Current Funded Research Projects
“Advancing Work-Family Reconciliation: Framing Gender And Generational Justice “Advancing Work-Family Reconciliation: Framing Gender And Generational Justice Across Canadian and European Social Movements and Policy.” A three-year project (2010 – 2013) funded by SSHRC, on which I am PI.
“Investigating Professionalism as a Canadian Child Care Movement Strategy in an Era of Neoliberalism.” A three-year project (2011 - 2014) funded by SSHRC, where I am working with PI Rachel Langford and co-applicant Patrizia Albanese (Ryerson University.)
“FemNorthNet: Learning From Women's Experiences Of Community Transformations as a Result of Economic Restructuring.” A five-year (2010 – 2015) SSHRC Northern Communities CURA project. Jane Stinson, of the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women, leads the large research team of community and university-based researchers. I work with the Thompson community team as their academic coordinator, and I co-lead the social infrastructure research theme with Teresa Healy
Selected Recent Publications
Bonnycastle C. and S. Prentice. (Forthcoming). Childcare and Caregiving: Overlooked Barriers for Northern Post-Secondary Women Learners. Canadian Journal of Native Studies. 31(1).
Prentice, S. (Forthcoming). Childcare and Mothers’ Dilemmas. In C.L. Biggs and S. Gingell, Eds. Gendered Intersections: Readings for Women's and Gender Studies – Second Edition. Halifax: Fernwood.
Friendly, M and S. Prentice . 2011. Provision, Policy and Politics in Early Childhood
Education and Care in Canada. In Howe, N. and L. Prochner (Eds.), New Directions in Early Childhood Education and Care in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Troutt, E., Brown, L., & Prentice, S. (2011). Ten Years After: Sex and Salaries at a Canadian University. Canadian Public Policy, 37(2).
Friendly, M and S. Prentice. (2009). About Canada: Childcare. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing.
Prentice, S. (2009). High Stakes: The 'Investable' Child and the Economic Reframing of Childcare." Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society. 34(3), 687 - 710.
Prentice, S. (2008). Childcare, the 'Business Case' and Economic Development: Canadian Evidence, Opportunities and Challenges." International Journal of Economic Development, 16(4), 269 - 30.
Prentice, S. (2007). "Childcare, Justice and the City: A Case Study of Planning Failure in Winnipeg." Canadian Journal of Urban Research. Vol. 16, no. 1: 92 - 108.
Prentice, S. (2007). "Less Access, Worse Quality: New Evidence about Poor Children and Childcare in Canada," Journal of Children and Poverty. Vol.13, no. 1: 57 -73.
Prentice, S. (2006), "Childcare, Co-Production and the Third Sector in Canada," Public Management Review. Vol.8, no.4 (December): 521 - 536.
Recent Public Sociology Publications
Prentice, S. (2011). Canada’s Childcare Crisis: Low Public Prospects, High Corporate Activity. [Crise des services de garde à l'enfance au Canada: Perspectives publiques pessimistes et grande activité ministérielle] Public Sector Management Magazine, Vol. 22, no. 2 pp. 14 -16.
Prentice, S. (2009). East Beats West: Non-Profit Child Care Superior To Commercial Sector – CCPA Fastfact. Winnipeg: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives- Manitoba. (May 21).
Prentice, S. (2009). Study Ignores Issue Of Child-Care Quality: Alberta's Costs Are Also Generally Higher, And Low-Income Parents Have A Harder Time Finding Spots. Edmonton Journal. p. A15 (May 20).
Prentice, S. (2009). Non-Profit Child Care Superior To Commercial Sector. Winnipeg Free Press. p. A13 (May 19).
Prentice, S. (2009). Old Dollars, New Sense: Recent Evidence and Arguments About Child Care Spending. Our Schools/Our Selves. (April), 237 - 244.
Prentice, S. (2009). The Real Child Care Challenge – CCPA Fastfact. Winnipeg: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives- Manitoba. (January 23).
Friendly M. and S. Prentice (2008, November). From Vision to Action: Early Childhood Education and Care in 2020 – Briefing Note. Childcare Resource and Research Unit: Toronto.
Prentice, S. (2008, December 14). The Real Childcare Challenge. Winnipeg Free Press, p. B14.
Prentice, S. (2008, Spring). Rural Childcare in Manitoba: New Economic Evidence. Manitoba Leader - Association of Manitoba Municipalities, 27 - 29.
Wehner, J., Kelly, B., & Prentice, S. (2008). Rural and Northern Childcare: A Summary of Economic and Social Evidence From Manitoba. Winnipeg: Women’s Working Group, Rural Secretariat.
Recent Invited and Keynote Addresses
Prentice, S. (2009, November). "Troubling Lessons: Corporate Childcare in Canada and Abroad." Sponsored by University Childcare Action Group, REACH (Research in Early Childhood, Care, Education and Health - UVic Branch of the Human Early Learning Partnership) and Canadian Union of Public Employees, University of Victoria, BC.
October 2007, Equity Plenary, Presented to "Growing More of What Works," Western Regional Conference of Faulty Associations, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
September 2007, "Public Policy, Private Delivery: The Puzzle of Public-Private Partnerships in Childcare." Presented to "The Mixed Economy of Childcare: Risks and Opportunities - An International Conference." The inaugural conference of the International Centre for the Study of the Mixed Economy of Childcare, University of East London.
May 2007, "The 'Investable' Child and the Business Case for Childcare: Canadian Explorations." Presented at "What is 'Quality Care'? Cultural Assumptions in Institutions of Early Childhood Education." The Harry S. Truman Research Intitute for the Advancement of Peace, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.
January 2007, "Does Language Matter? Childcare and the Case for 'Social Investment'," Presented at Women Scholars Visiting Speakers' Series, President's Office, University of Lethbridge. Alberta.
Recent Conferences - Selected
Prentice, S. (May, 2011) “Financial Crises and the Framing of Gender and Generational Justice: Canada and France.” Presented at Community, Work and Family Conference, Tampere, Finland.
Prentice, S. (May 2011) “Advancing Work-Family Reconciliation: Framing Gender And Generational Justice Across Canadian And European Social Movements and Policy. ” Presented at Work-Life: Cross-National Conversations - Context Theorizing in Work-Life Research. Paris, France.
Prentice, S. (2008, April). “Arguing for Childcare: The Case of Canada.” Presented at “Expanding Childcare: What are the Most Effective Strategies?” Breaking Boundaries and Building Bridges: Women’s Activism, Values, and Vision, co-organized by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, National Organization of Women, and the National Association of Negro Women, Atlanta, GA.
Prentice, S. (2007, November). Economic and Social Impacts of Childcare. "National Child Day Forum, Healthy Child Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB.
Prentice, S. (2007, September). "Beyond Auspice: Interrogating Public-Private Partnerships for Childcre Delivery," Presented to the British Educational Research Association (BERA), Annual Conference, London, UK.
Last updated July 2011.