Women and Work: Choices and Constraints
Program of Events
October 30-31, 2008
KEYNOTE: Thursday, October 30
7:00-8:30 p.m.
The Reading Room (across from the Blue Wall)
Campus Center
“Opt Out or Pushed Out: The Real Deal Re: Women and Work”
* JOAN C. WILLIAMS
Distinguished Professor, University of California Hastings College of Law
Director, Center for WorkLife Law
*FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC*
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WORKSHOP- Panel Sessions:
Friday, October 31
7:30-8:00 a.m.- Sign in
8:00 a.m.- Welcome, Massachusetts Representative Ellen Story
917 Campus Center
10/20/08: ***Workshop is fully registered***
8:30 a.m. - Panel 1: “Opting Out?”
Lead Panelist: PAMELA STONE, Professor of Sociology at Hunter College
Discussant: HEATHER BOUSHEY, Senior Economist for the Joint Economic Committee of the US Senate
Discussant: MAUREEN PERRY JENKINS, Professor of Psychology, UMass Amherst
Discussant: CHRISTINE PERCHESKI, Robert Wood Johnson Scholar in Health Policy Research, Harvard University
Who is opting out of the workforce and why?
Is opting out a growing trend?
What are the choices, institutional structures, and family demands that influence women’s movement into and out of the workforce?
10:15 a.m. - Panel 2: “Opting In?”
Lead Panelist: SUSAN LAMBERT, Associate Professor in the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago
Discussant: NAOMI GERSTEL, Professor of Sociology, UMass Amherst
Discussant: EVE WEINBAUM, Associate Professor of Labor Studies and Director of the Labor Center, UMass Amherst
What are the unique issues facing low-wage workers?
What challenges do they face in attempting to "opt-in" to the workforce?
How do issues such as work schedules, flexibility, leave time and benefits shape the lives of low-wage workers?
In managing work and family demands, do families or employers do more of the “flexing”?
11:45 p.m. - LUNCH
JUDI HABER (Consumer Studies '77), causemedia, inc.
1:05 p.m. - Panel 3: “The Changing Workforce and Changing Family”
Lead Panelist: ELLEN GALINSKY, President and Co-Founder of Families and Work Institute
Discussant: MICHELLE BUDIG, Associate Professor of Sociology, UMass Amherst
Discussant: NANCY FOLBRE, Professor of Economics, UMass Amherst
What is the current employment picture for women?
What effective work and family policies are in place?
Do we need different interventions or policies for hourly versus salary workers?
2:35 p.m. - Panel 4: “Looking to the Future”
Lead Panelist: PEGGIE SMITH, Professor of Law at the University of Iowa College of Law
Discussant: BERNIE JONES, Associate Professor of Law at Suffolk University Law School
Discussant: JOYA MISRA, Associate Professor of Sociology and Public Policy, UMass Amherst
What institutional structures and legal challenges affect working women and what does the future hold?
What limits work choice, what policies reduce discrimination, and where should we be heading?
What are the influences of ethnicity, class and gender?
What lessons can be learned from other countries and what global influences should be considered?
4:00 p.m. - Closing remarks
Contact wendy@sbs.umass.edu for more information.
This conference is presented by the Center for Research on Families with support from the University of Massachusetts Amherst Office of the Vice Provost for Research through a Leadership in Action Award.
Additional contributors include: the University of Massachusetts Amherst Alumni Association, the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, causemedia, inc., Easthampton Savings Bank, Finck and Perras Insurance Agency, the Women's Fund of Western Massachusetts, the Center for Public Policy and Administration, UMass Amherst Women's Studies Program, UMass Amherst Everywoman's Center, Hampshire College Feminist Studies Program, the Women's and Gender Studies Department at Amherst College, the Gender Studies Department at Mount Holyoke College, and Motherwoman, Inc. Special thanks goes to the many alumni who have provided both significant contributions and enthusiastic support.
