News

Sociologists Honored for Excellence in Work-Family Research

Congratulations go to Professors Michelle Budig and Joya Misra (sociology) who were named finalists for this year's Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award for Excellence in Work-Family Research. Their article, coauthored with Stephanie Moller (UNC Charlotte), was “Work-Family Policies and Poverty for Partnered and Single Women in Europe and North America,” Published in Gender & Society [21(6):804-27].

Finalists for this award, a partnership of the Center for Families at Purdue University, the Center for Work and Family at Boston College, and the Alliance of Work-Life Progress, were selected by a very rigorous process. More than 35 leading scholars from 12 countries examined more than 2,000 articles published in 74 leading English-language journals. No external nominations were solicited or accepted. A three-stage process led to the final selections; 59 articles were nominated for consideration by the review committee in the first round. The top 20, idenitified in the second round of reviews became "official" nominees. Five papers were considered as finalists during round three of reviews. This year's winner is "Getting a Job: Is there a Motherhood Penalty?" by Shelley Correll, Stephen Benard and In Paik, published in the American Journal of Sociology.

The Kanter Award raises awareness of excellent work-family research among the scholar, consultant and practitioner communities. It fosters debates about what the standards of quality for work-family research should be, and ultimately raises those standards. The award identifies the "best of the best" on which to base graduate education and future research.

UMass Amherst is no stranger to this award. In 2005 Naomi Gerstel won the award with Natalia Sarkisian for their article, "Explaining the Gender Gap in Help to Parents: The Importance of Employment" (Journal of Marriage and Family, Volume 66, pp. 431-451). And in 2003 Michelle J. Budig was the winner for her article, "Male Advantage and the Gender Composition of Jobs: Who Rides the Glass Escalator?" (Social Problems, 49(2). 40). Besides being part of the Sociology Department, Gerstel, Budig and Misra are all affiliated with the Center for Research on Families at UMass Amherst.

For more about the Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award, click here.

November 2, 2009