Colloquium March 6, 2013 Agars, M.

“Expanding Work and Family Research to Address the Needs of Low-Income Workers”
Mark D. Agars, Ph.D.
COLLOQUIUM ABSTRACT
Research on the work and family interface has exploded in recent years, yet there is a growing recognition that this work has had a minimal impact on organizations and their employees (Kossek, Baltes, & Matthews, 2011). We have argued (Agars & French, 2011) that this can be explained in part by the failure of work and family researchers to adequately consider population characteristics. The Work.Family.Life project aims to address this void by conducting population-sensitive research, building from the understanding that extant theory and measurement tools may be insufficient due to historical sampling limitations. Our initial project targets the population of low-income workers, and includes a qualitative and quantitative examination of several classic work and family instruments. Initial findings will be discussed, as will other examples of how the expanded consideration of population characteristics can meaningfully advance our understanding of the work and family interface.