Cynthia Fuchs Epstein is an American sociologist and emeritus distinguished professor of sociology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
[3] At Columbia University, Fuchs Epstein was able to study the changing American family after receiving a grant of $1,000 from the Institute of Life Insurance.
[3] Fuchs Epstein's dissertation analyzed the various factors that affected whether or not women were excluded or included in the professional realm, focusing on female lawyers as a deviant case because they were rare.
[3] Fuchs Epstein participated in various hearings on gender discrimination as a scholar and activist, testifying at the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) where she spoke about Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the barriers women faced in the professional world at the time.
[3] Fuchs Epstein was a consultant to the White House under two administrations, one of which being President Ford's,[2] to the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, and General Motors.
[3] In it she focused on women's professional advancement as framed by the “opportunities offered them, the organizational limits placed on their ambitions, and the recognition and reward of their accomplishments.”[3] Specifically, she incorporated gender into a discussion of social structures and status.
[3] Fuchs Epstein's interest in women's professional lives led her to “explore the dynamics of stereotyping in all spheres of society,”[3] focusing on how boundaries are socially constructed.
[3] This research informed her next book, titled The Part-time Paradox: Time Norms, Professional Life, Family and Gender, published in 1999.