Nurturant Fathering and Gender Equity in Adolescents: A Quantitative Analysis

Achieving gender equity is a central aim of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 5, which highlights the need to eradicate all forms of discrimination against women and girls. In Indonesia, a strong patriarchal culture causes unequal roles in the family, especially in childcare. Conventional parenting roles that place mothers as the primary caregivers and fathers as financial providers shape children’s unequal perceptions of gender roles. A father’s attendance and involvement in raising a child deeply supports not only their emotional, social, and moral development but also shapes how they come to see and value gender fairness in their daily lives. This study aimed to see the influence of nurturant fathering on gender equity in adolescents. The study used a quantitative correlational approach with 212 adolescents aged 18–20 years in Tulungagung Regency as subjects, who were identified by using a purposive sampling technique. The instruments used were the Nurturant Fathering Scale (NFS) and the Gender Equity Scale, with reliabilities of 0.938 and 0.94, respectively. The data were analyzed using simple linear regression, revealing a significant relationship between fathering and adolescents’ perceptions of gender equity (p = 0.000). Interestingly, the negative regression coefficient means that lower levels of nurturant fathering are associated with higher perceptions of gender equity among adolescents. This finding suggests that less participatory fathering patterns can encourage adolescents to have a more equal gender awareness, possibly due to experiences or other environmental influences that compensate for the father’s minimal role.