Mary C. Brinton

Mary C. Brinton is the Reischauer Institute Professor of Sociology and Director, Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard University. She arrived at Harvard in 2003, having previously held positions at the University of Chicago and Cornell University. Her research interests lie in the areas of gender inequality in the labor market and households, work and family, social demography, comparative institutions, and contemporary Japanese society. Brinton is currently finishing a book manuscript linking gender inequality to Japan’s persistently low birth rate, drawing on original in-depth interviews and quantitative macro-level data. The book is targeted towards a broad reading public as well as policymakers in Japan, and will be initially published in Japanese. She is beginning a companion book to be published in English that will be a comparative analysis of gender inequality and birth rates in the postindustrial world, featuring Japan, Sweden, and the U.S. as contrasting cases.