CALL FOR EXTENDED ABSTRACTS
Understanding Cognitive Labor and the Mental Load
Half-day Pre-Conference at the Work and Family Researchers Network (WFRN) Meeting
June 17, 2026 • Montreal, Canada
Submissions due December 1, 2025
Submit Your Proposal Through This Link:
https://ithaca.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4SN1bVLhdHr9lPg
We invite submissions for a half-day pre-conference on “Understanding Cognitive Labor and the Mental Load,” held at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. This event convenes scholars and practitioners to advance empirical, theoretical, and applied research on the mental and emotional components of care work. Sessions will include a mix of paper sessions, flash talks, and a poster display.
Publication Opportunity — Special Issue
Presenting authors will be invited to submit full manuscripts to the WFRN special issue of Community, Work & Family co-edited by Allison Daminger, Jennifer Hook and Leah Ruppanner, titled “Centering Care Across the Life Course: Understanding Cognitive Labor and the Mental Load.” Invitation to present at the pre-conference does not guarantee publication and the special issue is open to all WFRN conference participants and not limited to those who participated in the pre-conference day. All selected manuscripts will undergo the journal’s independent peer-review process and must follow journal guidelines. Details about the Special Issue submission dates will be provided closer to the conference date.
Scope and Suggested Topics (include but are not limited to):
- Differences in the nature or allocation of cognitive labor/mental load across diverse populations (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity, class, sexuality, immigration status, disability, family structure)
- Cross-cultural and cross-national analyses; how policy and institutional contexts shape the mental load
- Innovative approaches to measuring cognitive labor/mental load
- Life-course perspectives, with particular emphasis on care for older adults and multigenerational care chains
- Consequences of cognitive labor burdens (e.g., for health and well-being, relationship dynamics, job quality, child outcomes)
- Intersections with workplaces and employment
- Interventions and practice (e.g., evaluation of programs, products, technologies, or policies that reduce or redistribute the burden)
Submission Instructions for Half-Day Pre-conference
Submit Your Proposal Through This Link: https://ithaca.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4SN1bVLhdHr9lPg
Submissions for the half-day pre-conference are due by December 1, 2025. Owing to schedule conflicts, Early Career Fellowship Program Participants are not eligible to participate in this event.
Please submit a 500-word extended abstract that clearly states the research question, data/materials, methods, expected or preliminary findings, and contribution. Note: If you already submitted a paper to the main WFRN conference and would like it to be reassigned to the pre-conference, please notify Network Coordinator Haneen Abraham at info@wfrn.org by October 31, 2025.
Registration
Pre-conference participants will be required to register for the WFRN conference. A separate pre-conference registration fee of $30 USD will be due at registration. Paper acceptances will be sent by February 1, 2026.
Organizers and Contact
Allison Daminger (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Leah Ruppanner (University of Melbourne)
Contact: daminger@wisc.edu, leah.ruppanner@unimelb.edu.au
Review Independence and Conflict-of-Interest Policy
Submissions to the Community, Work & Family special issue will follow the journal’s independent peer-review process. To manage conflicts of interest, manuscripts authored by organizers or their close collaborators/students will be handled by an independent handling editor designated by the journal; guest editors will not have access to reviewer identities or deliberations for these manuscripts. Invitation to submit does not guarantee acceptance.