GEMTRA: Transition to MotherhoodAcross Three Generations of Women

Motherhood is one of the most important sociological markers of transitioning from early adulthood to the so called core adulthood. In a life-cycle perspective, having children is seen as a key turning point, which may determine other life choices, such as: employment, mobility, migration. Motherhood constitutes a vital socio-historical lens since, on the one hand, it is affected by the process of social reproduction, and on the other, it reflects social changes. In this context, the main aim of GEMTRA (GEnerations of Mothers TRAnsition) project is to examine the process of transition to motherhood across generations of Polish women, namely young, first-time expecting mothers (generation G3), their mothers (generation G2) and grandmothers (generation G1).

The main research question of the project is: What does the process of transition to motherhood look like across three generations of Polish women? The following hypothesis that will be verified during the research process are: It is forecasted that both new models of transitions and strong intergenerational transfer can be observed with respect to motherhood models and their reproduction. Specifically, it is believed that women from G1 and G2 generations perceive motherhood as an obligatory marker of becoming an adult. For them motherhood coincides with other events such as: getting married, starting a family, leaving the family home, completing education and entering labor market. In contrast, for G3 generation women motherhood is just one of the markers which may, but does not have to be fulfilled. However, the transition of generation G3 women is marked by contradictions; on the one hand they can take advantage of reproductive agency (access to contraception and information, economic stability and social welfare), on the other they are embedded in the traditional and patriarchal models of motherhood in Poland, for example the myth of the Polish Mother.

The project proposes an intergenerational, retrospective and prospective research on transitions to motherhood. Research design and methods are grounded in theoretical conceptualization of flexible social time, which became the backbone for Qualitative Longitudinal Research (QLR) tradition in an epistemological and methodical approach.

The project will comprise of two waves of research, with Wave 2 occurring about 9 to 12 months after Wave 1. Participant recruitment entails conducting no less than 100 interviews, with a minimum of 60 interviews during Wave1. The assumed flexibility in terms of intergenerational triads of respondents (G3-G2-G1) will result with at least 20 investigated families. Convenience sampling will be applied in this project.
In order to capture the continuum of “before” and “after” of the event of becoming a mother, as well as grandmother and grand-grandmother, the researchers will attempt to interview (IDI – Individual In-depth Interview) women of all three generations within the respective and purposefully sampled families.

The chosen theoretical and methodological approaches enable GEMTRA project to further knowledge in the subfield of family sociology and youth studies, as well as signal the first step in conceiving Polish sociology of generations. The project will strengthen the use of innovative research methods (QLR – Quality of Life Research, genograms) in the Youth Research Center of SWPS University, as well as enrich the body of data which can be used to formulate family policy in Poland.