The Hal Kendig Prize for the Best CEPAR PhD Thesis in 2022 has been awarded to Daniel Dinale for his PhD thesis on ‘Institutional Interdependency: Explaining the Relationship between Female Labour Force Participation and Fertility Rates in Post-Industrial Nations’, under the supervision of CEPAR Chief Investigator Professor Marian Baird and Associate Professor Chris F. Wright.
“I’m thrilled to receive the Hal Kendig Prize for the Best CEPAR PhD Thesis in 2022. I am very grateful for the recognition of my work and would like to thank my supervisors,” said Dr Daniel Dinale.
His doctoral thesis focused on cross-national patterns of female employment, motherhood and public policy regarding the reconciliation of employment and family. The thesis applied comparative institutional analysis to explain why the relationship between female labour force participation and fertility rates is now positive in post-industrial nations.
Dr Dinale’s PhD supervisor Professor Marian Baird said “Daniel’s thesis and subsequent outputs will have impact globally as he addresses two most important issues: fertility rates and female labour market participation.”
The prize nomination noted that Dr Dinale’s PhD thesis impressed the examiners with being a “very polished and well presented thesis, which addresses an important question by applying a relatively novel analytical framework” and that “the thesis makes a valuable contribution as it goes beyond siloed institutional explanations in extant literature on female labour force participation and fertility rates by uncovering constraints and opportunities that exist across several spheres of women’s lives.”
Dr Daniel Dinale is a post-doctoral researcher based at the University of Sydney node of CEPAR. He received his PhD degree from Discipline of Work and Organisational Studies at the University of Sydney Business School in 2022. Since gaining his PhD, Dr Dinale has already developed three academic outputs - one book proposal and two journal papers - from his thesis.
The Hal Kendig Prize is awarded annually in commemoration of the late Emeritus Professor Hal Kendig who was a CEPAR Chief Investigator and an important influence on the policy debate around ageing in Australia and internationally. Hal Kendig provided mentorship throughout his career and was especially active in mentoring PhD students.
Prize winners receive AUD 1,000 and an award certificate, and Dr Dinale has donated the prize money for his award to the Sydney Women’s Fund.