婦女運動在促進兩性平等上已略有斬獲，使得嚴謹的男主外、女主內的性別分工在形式上開始鬆動，大量婦女走進就業職場。但若進一步檢視就業婦女在家中被期待扮演的照顧者角色，與面臨的衝突時，可清楚看出，男性對家庭角色的投入，並未相稱於雙生涯家庭的變遷與需求，這使得女性不論就業與否，仍得負擔主要的育兒責任，導致兩性在公領域上很難達到真正的平等。可見，要真正解決在兩性之間的不均等育兒責任分擔、減輕雙薪家庭角色緊張對婦女造成的負向影響，並為達到兩性在職場真正的平等，我們都不能忽略對男性在家庭中，尤其是參與兒童照顧活動的「父職角色」的瞭解。 據此，本文所關注的核心現象為：在都會區、雙薪的核心家庭中，育有六歲以下小孩的父親，在夫妻同時外出工作的社會脈絡下，在育兒角色的扮演上，究竟有怎樣的表現與特徵？其心情感受又是如何？這樣的父職角色特徵，到底是哪些社會心理過程、文化意識型態、社會結構、組織與機制在模塑、建構、運作與影響？為追求兩性平等的育兒角色的早日達成，我們該突破哪些障礙、強化哪些支持網絡？ 本研究採取質化研究中的紮根理論研究方法，以核心、雙薪、研究期間家中僅育有六歲以下小孩的家庭為訪談對象，從研究者之人際網絡中，完成六對夫妻的訪談，資料蒐集採半結構式的深度訪談。資料分析係依據紮根理論來進行資料的概念化，在發展類屬的過程，掌握其特徵，並發展面向，待核心類屬出現，開始進行選擇性編碼，以核心類屬為中心，建構概念與概念之間的理論性關連，以達成理論性飽合。 本研究發現如下：ぇ就核心現象而言，我們發現：母親即使外出就業，仍是嬰幼兒的主要照者，父親則扮演「選擇性育兒角色」。而其「選擇性」分別具體展現在投入育兒勞務的時間、責任與心態、角色、活動特質、以及親子關係等五個層面；最後，研究也發現，初為人父心情感受可謂苦樂參半。え就影響父職角色扮演的因素而言，則有下列四個重要機制：「意：鬆動的傳統性別分工觀」、「能力：先天不足、後天失調的社會化歷程」、「勞動市場結：相互排擠的工作與親職領域」、「資源：代際關係主導之托育支持網絡」。

　　　　　One major goal of feminist movements in Western countries has been the employment equality for women. Although certain degree of success has been accomplished by equal legistations and women employment statistics, given the expected caring role of working-women in the family, the increase in women's employment doesnot guarantee an equivalent increase in men's participation in child-care. That's to say, whether women work or not, they are expected to be the principal child care-giver, particularly for pre-school children. To conclde, if we really want to shatter the rigid gender division of child-care responsibilities, to release the negative impact of the role-conflict on women in dual-wage families, and to achieve the actual gender equity in employment, we have to examine the role of men in families, especially their performance of "fatherhood". Thus, we address the following inquires: what's the current patterns of paternal participation in child care in dual-wage families with pre-school children? What were the mechanics which maintained the gender division of child-care responsibilities? What are the likely psychological, social, and economic barriers and facilitators for co-parenting? Six Taiwan dual-wage families with pre-school children participated in this study. Qualified informants were recruited through personal network, and both parents of each family were visited separately. A semi-structure in-depth interview which lasted from one to two hours were conducted. Based on grounded theory all the interview data were analyzed. The results are: fatherhood as a secondary parenting role, in the sense that fathers spend less time with their children than do mothers, and they involved with children more on weekend and holidays. Besides, they always expressed their willingness to "help" their wives to take care of children instead of perceiving themselves as the main child care-giver. Thirdly, fathers are also more likely than mothers to invest their time with children in the less demanding child-care activities. Mechanics underneath the performance of fatherhood include: cultural norm constraining the nurturing paternal image; rigid gender socialization limiting the male parenting competence; the labor market structure excludes father from adequate parenting.