APA's Presidential Initiative on Work-Family Synthesis
October 26-28, 2003
Kellogg West Conference Center and Lodge
The Berger Institute for Work, Family, and Children hosted the organizational meeting of APA's Presidential Initiative on Work-Family Synthesis. A panel of experts in many areas of work-family assisted Dr. Halpern in her role as President-Elect of APA, formulate her initiative on Work-Family Synthesis. The task for this panel was to make data-based recommendations about the complex and rapidly changing area of work and family that will be useful to legislators when they craft laws (e.g., TANF, labor laws, tax incentives, child care), to businesses when they make decisions about policies and benefits (e. g., return-on-investments, worker health and turnover, productivity), and to families when they plan for the care of children and sick family members, and when they decide about career paths, family types, and retirement options. The organizational meeting marked the beginning of this undertaking.
Background
The initiative began with the premise that the nature of the American family has undergone tremendous changes over the several last decades of the 20th century with huge increases in the number of mothers with preschool children who are employed outside the home, the number of single-parent and step-families, and the number of same-sex families. Yet, the world of work is still largely organized for a traditional two-parent family, with a stay-at-home mother and employed father. The mismatch between employment norms and contemporary families has created many problems: Who will care for the children, elderly parents, or the home when all of the adults are at work, or alternatively who will put in long hours at work when children, elderly parents, and tasks at home need care? What sorts of business policies provide a sound return-on-investment and help working families meet their obligations? What can we offer families who are deciding about work options and schedules and care arrangements for family members? There is a great need for sound psychological data that addresses many questions that are related to these changes. Yet, academic researchers have not been very involved in explaining their empirically-validated research to the people who are making decisions about the issues we study.
Participants in the Work/Family Synthesis Initiative
Dr. Tammy Allen
Professor of Psychology,
University of South Florida
Dr. Eileen Applebaum
Director, Center for Women and Work
Rutgers, The State University
Dr. Jeanne Brooks-Gunn
Virginia and Leonard Marx Professor of Child Development and Education
Teachers College, Columbia University
Dr. Lynn Casper
Health Scientist Administrator and Demographer
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Dr. Kathleen Christensen
Director
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Dr. Stephan Desrochers
Postdoctoral Fellow
Berger Institute for Work, Family, and Children
Claremont McKenna College
Dr. David Eccles
Research Associate
Institute for Human & Machine Cognition
Ms. Carol Evans
President & CEO
Working Mother Media
Ms. Rhea Farberman
Executive Director
Public and Member Communications
American Psychological Association
Dr. Sarah Friedman
Project Scientist\Scientific Coordinator
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Dr. Barbara Gault
Director of Research
Institute for Women's Policy Research
Dr. Adele Gottfried
Professor, Department of Educational Psychology
California State University, Northridge
Dr. Diane Halpern
Director
Berger Institute for Work, Family, and Children
Claremont McKenna College
Dr. Leslie Hammer
Professor of Psychology
Portland State University
Dr. Jody Heymann
Professor, Department of Society, Human Development, and Health
Harvard School of Public Health
Dr. E. Jeffery Hill
Professor of Marriage, Family, and Human Development
Brigham Young University
Dr. Florence Kaslow
Clinical Psychologist
Florida Couples & Family Institute
Dr. Gwendolyn Keita
Director, Women's Programs Office
American Psychological Association
Ms. Donna Klein
Vice President
Diversity & Workplace
Marriott International
Ms. Sara Link
Human Capital Management, Wellness Group
Goldman Sachs
Ms. Dianne Maranto
Director of Psychology in the Workplace
American Psychological Association
Dr. Bruce McEwen
The Alfred E. Mirsky Professor of Neuroendrocrinology
Rockefeller University
Dr. Ruth Milkman
Professor, Institute for Labor and Employment
University of California, Los Angeles
Dr. Pat Raskin
Professor, Teachers College,
Columbia University
Dr. Heidi Riggio
Postdoctoral Fellow
Berger Institute for Work, Family, and Children
Claremont McKenna College
Ms. Marguerite Sallee
Staff Director
Children and Families Subcommittee
Dr. Harvey Sterns
Professor of Psychology
University of Akron
Dr. Gail Thompson
Professor, School of Educational Studies
Claremont Graduate University
Dr. Melba Vasquez
Therapist
Vasquez & Associate
Mental Health Service
Dr. Jane Waldfogel
Professor of Social Work
Columbia University
Dr. Sheldon Zedeck
Professor of Psychology
University of California, Berkeley
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