What we misunderstand about absent fathers

As a new father, a scholar used his research on absentee fatherhood to reimagine his own childhood without his dad.

By: Matthew Alemu, University of Michigan; Northeastern University, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: June 15, 2026

Words: 1,341

Last Updated: 1 month, 1 week ago

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By Matthew Alemu, University of Michigan; Northeastern University

“What do dads do on Tuesdays?”

This wasn’t a rhetorical question when I posed it to my wife as our daughter’s birth approached. Before my daughter was born, I had seen my father just once in the past 27 years. That’s over 1,400 Tuesdays. In fact, as a kid I hardly saw fathering any day of the week, save for on TV sitcoms; absent dads were …

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