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.

Conference Program 2014

Conference at a Glance 2014

Professional Development-Mentoring-Idea Incubator 2014

Practioners Track Sessions

2014 Conference Evaluation

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