Are Dads Stepping Up?

Child and family psychologist Richard Weissbourd contributed an essay to NPR this week in which he challenged fathers to take on more responsibility. The gist of his opinion is hard to argue: Dads should take on more and should get more involved in their children's lives. But I believe he overgeneralizes, and I have rarely (if ever) encountered indifference from teachers or rude looks from other moms from invading their "sphere of influence." (I also think this short-changes fathers from older generations, who contributed in different yet still important ways.)

The comments at the end of the essay also are thought-provoking. One person posted:

There is a traditional mindset that institutions still cling to which says, in effect, Dad's occupy this space and Mom's occupy other roles. Might be about time we broke down that old fashioned group gender bias.

In his book "Outliers," Malcolm Gladwell suggests that culture shapes who we are. I think culture shapes how fathers behave, though I think that the culture in the United States is changing. Though this is purely anecdotal evidence, I think more and more dads are dropping off and picking up their kids at our school. Does it signal a change in attitudes? Does it show that more moms are working? Does it reflect the changing economy? Maybe it's a bit of everything.

What do you think? Is there a gender bias? How much does our culture hold back fathers? Or is it all a bunch of mumbo-jumbo?