2014 WFRN Conference Summary
The 2014 conference of the Work and Family Researchers Network was held on June 19-21, 2014 at the Millennium Broadway Hotel in New York City. In close to 200 sessions, some 750 work-family researchers and experts across many disciplines and perspectives and from 42 countries explored the theme, “Changing Work and Family Relationships in a Global Economy.” A special conference issue of the Community, Work & Family journal captured the best papers of the 2014 conference.
Approximately 40% of the attendees were from outside the U.S. and 20% of attendees were students. Although most WFRN members are scholars (about 80% are academics), practitioners and policy makers are a growing constituency, and in response to this trend, a Practitioner Track was added to the 2014 conference, with sessions highlighted on all three days.
Professional Development-Mentoring-Idea Incubator 2014
Sponsors Included:
Patrons
Ryan LLC
University of Pennsylvania Population Studies Center
Partners
AARP
Alliance for Work-Life Progress, an Affiliate of WorldatWork
Bright Horizons Family Solutions
Routledge Taylor & Francis Group
SHRM
University of Pennsylvania Department of Sociology
Friends
Susan Bulkeley Butler Center for Leadership Excellence, Purdue University
College and University Work-Life-Family Association (CUWFA)
Harvard Medical School Division of Sleep Medicine
Purdue Center for Families and Boston College Center for Work & Family
University of Maryland School of Social Work
WFD Consulting
Special Thanks
Special thanks to the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for providing a generous seed grant to support the transition to and sustainability of the Work and Family Researchers Network. Funds from the Foundation also supported the Early Career Scholars Program Cohort 4 and a travel grant for international attendees and graduate students with limited travel funds.
Special thanks to Bright Horizons Family Solutions for providing free child care for conference participants.
Special thanks to the Susan Bulkeley Butler Center for Leadership Excellence, Purdue University for providing in-kind support for conference planning, particularly the extraordinary time and effort of Lisa Buxbaum Burke.
2014 Book Reception
There was a New and Recent Book Reception at the conference on Friday, June 20, 2014, from 3-4 pm.
Book exhibitors included:
- Julia Brannen, Suzan Lewis, and Ann Nielsen: Transitions to Parenthood in Europe
- Jodi Ecker Detjen, Michelle Waters, and Kelly Watson: The Orange Line – A Woman’s Guide to Integrating Career, Family & Life
- Barbara Hobson: Worklife Balance – The Agency and Capabilities Gap
- Gayle Kaufman: Superdads – How Fathers Balance Work and Family in the 21st Century
- Elizabeth Palley and Corey Shdaimah: In Our Hands – The Struggle for U.S. Child Care Policy
- Bahira Trask: Globalization and Families – Accelerated Systemic Social Change
- Bahira Trask:Women, Work and Globalization – Challenges and Opportunities
- Joan Williams and Rachel Demsey: What Works for Women at Work – Four Patterns Women Need to Know
2014 Exhibitor Information
Exhibits were open on Friday, June 20, 2014, from 9 am – 4 pm, and on Saturday, June 21, 2014, from 9 am – 3 pm.
Exhibitors included:
- AARP
- Bright Horizons Family Solutions
- College and University Work-Life-Family Association (CUWFA)
- New York University Press
- Routledge/Psychology Press
- Russell Sage Foundation
- Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
- Stylus Publishing
Combined Book Display:
- Cornell University Press/ILR Press
- Edward Elgar Publishing
- JMK Publishing, Inc.
- University of Pennsylvania, Wharton Digital Press
- University of California Press
Literature Display
- 1 Million for Work Flexibility
2014 Conference Program Committee
- Ellen Ernst Kossek, Purdue University, Chair
- Joseph G. Grzywacz, Oklahoma State University, Co-chair
- Anne Bardoel, Monash University
- Orfeu Buxton, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
- Laura den Dulk, Erasmus University Rotterdam
- Lucy English, Horizons Workforce Consulting
- Jennifer Glass, University of Texas at Austin
- Jeffrey Greenhaus, Drexel University
- Jerry A. Jacobs, University of Pennsylvania
- Erin L. Kelly, University of Minnesota
- Susan Lambert, University of Chicago
- Maureen Perry-Jenkins, University of Massachusetts Amherst
- Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, Boston College
- Jane Waldfogel, Columbia University