Eunsil Oh

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Department of Sociology

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Curriculum Vitae

Biography

Dr. Eunsil Oh is an assistant professor of Sociology and Asian Languages and Culture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research lies in family studies; sociology of gender; and demography. Oh’s research explores key themes in individuals’ narratives of their work and family decisions and the underlying social and cultural forces that shape these decisions. Topics of her interest include marriage, fertility, parenting, and employment. Currently, using the context of contemporary Korea, which has the lowest total fertility rate in the world, Oh investigates how individuals define success and arrive at their ideals about fertility and work. Her recent collaborative work also explores how women define social mobility and make decisions about work and fertility in contemporary East Asia.

CDE Research Area Affiliations:

Fertility, Families & Households; Demography of Inequality

Selected Publications:

Oh, Eunsil, Anni Ni, and Zheng Mu. Forthcoming. “Flexible Motherhood and the Unequal Logics of Women’s Work: Chinese Mothers in Singapore.” Gender & Society 40(6).

Oh, Eunsil. 2025. “Norms or Knowledge? Unpacking Views on Maternal Employment among the College Educated in South Korea.” Qualitative Sociology 48(2):213–42.

Park, Soyun, and Eunsil Oh. 2025. “Getting a Foot in the Door: A Meta-Analysis of U.S. Audit Studies of Gender Bias in Hiring.” Sociological Science 12 (2025): 26-50.

Han, SangWon, and Eunsil Oh. 2024. “Aligned, Competing, and Blurred: Gender and Family Attitudes in East Asia.” Journal of Marriage and Family 87(2):676–700.

Mu, Zheng, and Eunsil Oh. 2023. “Valuation of Domestic Work: Construction of Stay-at-Home Motherhood among Elite Chinese Migrants in Singapore.” Gender, Work & Organization 31(6):2446–66.

Oh, Eunsil, and Eunmi Mun. 2022. “Compensatory Work Devotion: How a Culture of Overwork Shapes Women’s Parental Leave in South Korea.” Gender & Society 36(4):552–77.

Winner of the 2024 Article of the Year Award, Family Section, American Sociological Association

Bueno, Xiana, and Eunsil Oh. 2022. “How Do Men Talk about Taking Parental Leave? Evidence from South Korea, Spain, and the US.” Pp. [pages] in Engaged Fatherhood for Men, Families and Gender Equality: Healthcare, Social Policy, and Work Perspectives, edited by M. Grau Grau, M. las Heras Maestro, and H. Riley Bowles. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.