We have two new Topic Pages available this month:

Health and Workplace Flexibility, compiled by Gloria Tower with expert advisor Jeffrey Greenhaus, is available here: http://wfnetwork.bc.edu/topic.php?id=25&area=academics.

Shift Work, compiled by Erin Donohue with expert advisor Wen-Jui Han, is available here: http://wfnetwork.bc.edu/topic.php?id=24&area=academics.

Please let us know what you think!

Judi Casey presented the results of the “Numbers that Work” poll at the 2006 AWLP conference in a session with Sandy Burud (author of Leveraging the New Human Capital) and Stacy Wittekind (Bristol-Myers Squibb) called “Numbers at Work: Using Information to Drive Organizational Change.” The presentation focused on the current and future information needs of the work/life practitioner. The session emphasized the importance of getting the right information (and the resources of the Sloan Network that can help you do that), in addition to how to use information to make decisions, or in some cases, not make decisions. Here’s a preview:

Information needed now:

• Flexible Work Schedules (88%)
• Child Care (83%)
• Overwork/Workload (79%)
• Telework/Telecommuting (78%)
• Diversity (75%)
• Health care costs/ Benefits (74%)
• Health and Wellness (72%)

Information needed in the future:

• Global Economy/Global Focus (83%)
• Phased Retirement (74%)
• Older Workers/ Aging Workforce (73%)
• Generational Diversity (72%)
• Elder Care (67%)

The full poll results are available. In addition, a CD with information from the Sloan Work and Family Research Network was created to respond to your current and future information needs. To view the poll results and the CD on Myfiles, a BC file sharing program, please go to: https://wfs.bc.edu/xythoswfs/webui/_xy-4609856_1-t_5gwcjwHh, or copy and paste the link in your browser.

Be sure to keep checking “What’s New in Work and Family” on our web site for the latest work and family links. Here are two recent announcements:

The Center for Families at Purdue University and the Boston College Center for Work & Family, with the support of the Alliance for Work Life Progress, have named Natalia Sarkisian and Naomi Gerstel the winners of the 2005 Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award for Excellence in Work-Family Research. The Kanter Award is given annually to the best research paper(s) published each year. Natalia and Naomi have been honored for their paper, “Explaining the Gender Gap in Help to Parents: The Importance of Employment,” from the Journal of Work and Family.

To read the press release, click here:
http://www.bc.edu/centers/cwf/research/meta-elements/pdf/kanter_press_05.pdf.

To access Best of the Best: Summaries of the Top Twenty Nominees, click here: http://www.bc.edu/centers/cwf/research/meta-elements/pdf/best_2005.pdf.

Eduardo Porter of The New York Times discusses many possible reasons for women’s declining labor force participation over the last four years.

To access “Stretched to the Limit, Women Stall March to Work,” click here.

For more announcements and articles, you may access What’s New in Work and Family by clicking here.

Best regards,

Marcie, Karen, Judi, Tina, and Sandee