Dr Laetitia Coles

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Queensland Brain Institute

l.coles@uq.edu.au

Researcher biography

Dr Laetitia Coles is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow within the Science of Learning Lab at the Queensland Brain Institute, led by Prof Karen Thorpe. Dr Coles is a mixed-methods researcher and has a strong commitment to research that helps improve understandings of gender, work, and care across two distinct settings: (1) within the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) setting; and (2) within the family.

Across these two settings, Dr Coles' research focuses on the ways in which gender, work and family policy, and work-place practices

(a) frame concepts of care (b) underpin gendered labour supply within the ECEC setting, and (b) underpin and inform the decisions families make with regards to engagement in paid and unpaid labour.

In her current post-doctoral role, Dr Coles works across several projects. Dr Coles currently coordinates an ARC-funded longitudinal study (the Sleep Transitions and Regularity study (STARs)) examining child and family sleep over time.

In addition to this, Dr Coles examines issues related to gender within the ECEC workforce, and has a passion for improving the working conditions of those who are caring for our youngest members of society.

Dr Coles has a strong and developing track record in research translation, including the development and delivery of reports for government and non-government organisations.

Dr Coles completed her PhD in Sociology in 2020, looking at long work hours and fathers' engagement with children and caregiving – particularly focusing on the factors that facilitate participation in caregiving.

Publications

Journal Articles (11)

Conference Papers (6)

Generic Document (1)

Research Reports (7)

Theses (2)

Journal Articles

Cooke, Emma, Coles, Laetitia, Staton, Sally, Thorpe, Karen and Chawla, Jasneek (2023). Communicating the complex lives of families that include a child with Down syndrome. Health Sociology Review, ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print), 1-23. doi: 10.1080/14461242.2022.2161405

Sullivan, Victoria, Coles, Laetitia, Xu, Yuwei and Thorpe, Karen (2022). Men times ten: does the presence of more men support inclusion of male educators in early childhood education and care?. Gender and Education, 35 (1), 1-19. doi: 10.1080/09540253.2022.2137106

Coles, Laetitia, Johnstone, Melissa, Pattinson, Cassandra, Thorpe, Karen, Van Halen, Olivia, Zheng, Zhaoxi, Bayliss, Olivia, Lakeman, Nicole, Western, Mark, Povey, Jenny and Staton, Sally (2022). Identifying factors for poorer educational outcomes that may be exacerbated by COVID ‐19: A systematic review focussing on at‐risk school children and adolescents. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 58 (1), 13-40. doi: 10.1002/ajs4.236

Cooke, Emma, Coles, Laetitia, Clarke, Andrew, Thorpe, Karen and Staton, Sally (2022). Discarded data: an Ahmedian engagement with young children’s gendered accounts of violence and power. Gender and Education, 34 (7), 1-17. doi: 10.1080/09540253.2022.2078795

Coles, Laetitia, Thorpe, Karen, Smith, Simon, Hewitt, Belinda, Ruppanner, Leah, Bayliss, Olivia, O'Flaherty, Martin and Staton, Sally (2022). Children's sleep and fathers' health and wellbeing: a systematic review. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 61 101570, 101570. doi: 10.1016/j.smrv.2021.101570

Sullivan, Victoria, Coles, Laetitia, Xu, Yuwei, Perales, Francisco and Thorpe, Karen (2020). Beliefs and attributions: insider accounts of men’s place in early childhood education and care. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 21 (2), 126-137. doi: 10.1177/1463949120929462

Staton, S., Coles, L., Zheng, Z. and Thorpe, K. (2020). COVID-19: Giving the Gift of Family Time. Report from the Understanding the Social Impacts of COVID-19 Study. Contact Magazine.

Coles, Laetitia, Hewitt, Belinda and Martin, Bill (2018). Contemporary fatherhood: social, demographic and attitudinal factors associated with involved fathering and long work hours. Journal of Sociology, 54 (4), 591-608. doi: 10.1177/1440783317739695

Brady, Michelle, Stevens, Emily, Coles, Laetitia, Zadoroznyj, Maria and Martin, Bill (2016). Australian fathers disagree that ‘there is absolutely nothing for new dads to do” and want to spend time bonding. Cambridge Core

Brady, Michelle, Stevens, Emily, Coles, Laetitia, Zadoroznyj, Maria and Martin, Bill (2016). "You can spend time ... but not necessarily be bonding with them": Australian fathers' constructions and enactments of infant bonding. Journal of Social Policy, 46 (1), 69-90. doi: 10.1017/S0047279416000374

Rose, Judy, Brady, Michelle, Yerkes, Mara A. and Coles, Laetitia (2015). ‘Sometimes they just want to cry for their mum’: couples’ negotiations and rationalisations of gendered divisions in infant care. Journal of Family Studies, 21 (1), 38-56. doi: 10.1080/13229400.2015.1010264

Conference Papers

Coles, L., Sullivan, V., Xu, Y. and Thorpe K. (2022). Men in the centres working in the margins: reinforcing and challenging gender stereotypes in ECEC. Australian Association of Research in Education (AARE), Adelaide, 27 November-1 December 2022.

Zheng, Zhaoxi, Clarke, Andrew, Coles, Laetitia and Staton, Sally (2021). Reconceptualising Home and Ontological Security in COVID-19 Times. The Australian Sociological Association 2021 Annual Conference (TASA Thematic Week), Online, 22-26 November 2021.

Coles, L., Thorpe, K., Smith, S., Hewitt, B., Ruppanner, L., Bayliss, O., O’Flaherty, M. and Staton, S. (2021). Children’s sleep and fathers’ health and wellbeing: a systematic review. 32nd annual scientific meeting of Australasian Sleep Association (ASA) & Australian and New Zealand Sleep Science Association (ANZSSA), Online, 10 - 13 October 2021. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/sleepadvances/zpab014.072

Coles, Laetitia, Allen, Alicia, Westwood, Emily, Staton, Sally, Oakes, Candice, Hewitt, Belinda, Thorpe, Karen and Ruppanner, Leah (2019). Children’s sleep and fathers’ lives in the early years: a systematic review. Australian Father Research Consortium Symposium, Melbourne, VIC Australia, 2-3 May 2019.

Thorpe, K., Smith, S., Mamun, A., Staton, S., Beatton, T., Heussler, H., LeBourgeois, M., Blair, P., Coles, L., Oaks, C. and Sinclair, G. (2019). Many naps, one nap, none: tracking the developmental significance of sleep transition in early childhood. 15th World Sleep Congress, Vancouver, Canada, 20-25 September 2019. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.sleep.2019.11.1071

Coles, Laetitia, Hewitt, Belinda and Martin, Bill (2015). Fatherhood in the 21st Century: who are the fathers who combine long work hours and caring for children?. The Annual Conference of The Australian Sociological Association, Cairns, QLD Australia, 23-26 November 2015. Cairns, QLD Australia: James Cook University.

Generic Document

O'Flaherty, M., Thorpe, K., Staton, S., Coles, L., Povey, J. and Rankin, P. (2019). Building Capacity in Australian Parents (BCAP) (Trial Interim Report). Department of Social Services, Australian Government.

Research Reports

Staton, Sally, Pattinson, Cassandra, Houen, Sandy, Coles, Laetitia, Westwood, Emily, Cooke, Emma, Searle, Bonnie-Ria and Thorpe, Karen (2022). KindyLinQ Program Pilot: Pilot evaluation report and executive summary. Online: Evidence for Learning.

Pattinson, Cassandra, Staton, Sally, Tomaszewski, Wojtek, Bayliss, Olivia, Coles, Laetitia and Johnstone, Melissa (2020). Learning through COVID-19: Maximising educational outcomes for Australia’s children and young people experiencing disadvantage - Pillar 1: Technical Supporting Report 3 of 7. The Learning through COVID-19 Study St Lucia, QLD Australia: Institute for Social Science Research.

Coles, Laetitia, Staton, Sally, Pattinson, Cassandra, Cleary, Anne, Zheng, Zhaoxi, Van Halen, Olivia and Thorpe, Karen (2020). Learning through COVID-19: Maximising educational outcomes for Australia’s children and young people experiencing disadvantage - Pillar 1: Technical Supporting Report 1 of 7. St Lucia, QLD Australia: Institute for Social Science Research.

Coles, Laetitia, Staton, Sally, Pattinson, Cassandra, Zheng, Zhaoxi, Inch, Zeb, Johnstone, Melissa and Thorpe, Karen (2020). Learning through COVID-19: Maximising educational outcomes for Australia’s children and young people experiencing disadvantage - Pillar 1: Technical Supporting Report 2 of 7. St Lucia, QLD Australia: Institute for Social Science Research.

Coles, L., Staton, S., Thorpe, K., Van Os, D., Westwood, E. and Menner, R. (2019). Early childhood data analysis report. Brisbane, QLD Australia: The Front Project.

Hewitt, Belinda, Baird, Marian, Baxter, Janeen, Brady, Michelle, Coles, Laetitia, Dickenson, Jane, Strazdins, Lyndall, Whitehouse, Gillian, Xiang, Ning and Yerkes, Mara (2017). Millennium Mums Report, waves 1-5. Indooroopilly, QLD, Australia: Institute for Social Science Research.

Martin, Bill, Yerkes, Mara, Hewitt, Belinda, Baird, M., Jones, Andrew Eric, Rose, Emily, Rose, Judith, Davis, K., Coles, Laetitia and Xiang, Ning (2013). Paid parental leave evaluation: Phase 2 report. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.

Theses

Coles, Laetitia (2020). Determinants of participation in childcare amongst fathers who work very long hours. PhD Thesis, Institute for Social Science Research, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/96f9f41

Coles, Laetitia (2012). Adolscents' participation in volunteering : a study of Queensland school students. Honours Thesis, School of Social Science, The University of Queensland.