Technology, Work and Family

Objectives

  • To collaborate so as to develop new research and enhance knowledge on the impact of technology on work-life issues (i.e., share findings, insights, experience, and information such as call for papers, funding opportunities, etc.).
  • To provide employees with practical tactics and strategies for managing work-life issues and technology.
  • To provide organizations and managers with effective strategies for managing the impact of technology on employees’ work-life balance.
  • To work towards influencing policy-makers and governments to support the development of practices geared towards creating family-friendly workplaces in a technology-driven, global environment.
  • To work with educational institutions to highlight the importance of creating learning communities and centers, as well as make curriculum changes to educate future managers about the important role of technology at the workplace and the implementation of work-life friendly practices in the current work environment.
  • To collaborate so as to disseminate our research findings widely and increase our impact in academia, policy, and practice.

News & Current Research

Professor Janet Fast

Research on Aging, Policies and Practice
Department of Human Ecology

University of Alberta

Professor Janet Fast is Co-PI on a Canadian National Centre of Excellence Program titled AGE-WELL, Canada’s Aging and Technology Network. Her work focuses on the technology needs of family caregivers. Briefly, “The aim of this research theme is to gain better insight into how to better support caregivers. Our goal is to support the development of novel technological solutions that can provide more effective and efficient care; reduce the burdens and consequences of care; and enhance the quality of life of caregivers. We are developing strategies to assist caregivers in making more informed decisions on the selection of technologies.”

Professor Fast also co-leads a five-year core project titled Assistive Technologies that Care for the Caregiver (ATaCC) and completed a one-year project titled “Connecting Working Caregivers” (CWiC). Briefly, for the core project, “This project focuses directly on the caregivers themselves to study their needs and how AT affects their lives. Understanding eldercare providers’ unique needs and preferences is critical for the successful development and adoption of AT.”

More information about AGE-WELL and the work package can be found at:http://agewell-nce.ca/research/research-themes-and-projects/workpackage-2

In the UK Professor Fast is Co-PI and co-lead on two work packages for a large UK-funded project focused on Sustainable Care Systems with two intertwined themes around technologies and working carers. For more details:  http://circle.group.shef.ac.uk/sustainable-care/

Chandra Childers, Ph.D.

Study Director

Institute for Women’s Policy Research

Below you can find two recent reports written by Dr. Chandra Childers on Women, Automation, and the Future of Work

https://iwpr.org/publications/women-automation-future-of-work/

Digitalization, Automation, and Older Black Women: Ensuring Equity in the Future of Work,

https://www.pgpf.org/us-2050/research-projects#working

Ariane Ollier-Malaterre, University of Quebec in Montreal, has co-authored recent papers related to technology, work and family, including with Jerry Jacobs and Marcello Russo, also members of the SIG:

Ariane Ollier-Malaterre is working on a cross-cultural study of technology, work and family in China and North America, and looking to collect data regarding how individuals navigate boundaries and connectivity on WeChat and in the broader Chinese technological context. Please email ollier.ariane@uqam.ca if you have authored research you would like to share, or are working along similar lines.

Alexandra Beauregard (Birkbeck, University of London) and Kelly Basile (Emmanual College) have co-authored two recent book chapters related to technology, work and family:

Beauregard, T. A., Basile, K. A., & Canónico, E. (2019). Telework: Outcomes and facilitators for employees. In R. N. Landers (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of technology and employee behavior (pp. 511-543). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Beauregard, T. A., Canónico, E., & Basile, K. A. (2019). “The fur-lined rut”: Telework and career ambition. In C. Kelliher & J. Richardson (Eds.), Work, working and work relationships in a changing world (pp. 17-36). Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge.

Contact

Chair: Ariane Ollier-Malaterre, Ph.D.
Professor of Management
Organisation and Human Resources Department
School of Management, Université du Québec à Montréal
ollier.ariane@uqam.ca

Chair-Elect: Kaumudi Misra, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Management
College of Business and Economics
California State University East Bay
kaumudi.misra@csueastbay.edu

Secretary: Angela R. Grotto, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Management and Marketing
Manhattan College
angela.grotto@manhattan.edu

Webmaster: Alexandra Beauregard, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Employment Relations and Organizational Behaviour
Department of Management
London School of Economics
a.beauregard@bbk.ac.uk

Member Engagement: Dominique Kost, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Faculty of Social Sciences
Oslo Business School
domkos@oslomet.no