The "juggling act" of work and family that has characterized life in the past couple of decades has become a significant focus of those interested in the social condition. Editors Toby L. Parcel and Daniel Cornfield draw on two major themes for this volume: First, that crucial to an understanding of the interplay between work and family is an acknowledgment of the varied ways time influences work and family processes―and outcomes. This book looks at time in both the macro historical sense as well as through examination of the more quotidian choices involved in balancing work and family. Second, Parcel and Cornfield consider the social policy implications that inhere in these essays. Contributors to Work and Family have been in every case encouraged to think explicitly about how governmental policies, as well as those of individual firms, can be derived from their research. This provocative collection is ideally suited to courses on work and occupations, family studies, organizations, and gender roles, taught in a number of disciplines, and will be of interest to scholars in these areas.
Daniel B. Cornfield (Ph.D., University of Chicago) is Professor of Sociology at Vanderbilt University. His research on labor movements, immigration, organizational careers, and social relations in workplaces and labor markets has appeared in over 40 articles and several books, has been supported by the National Science Foundation, Russell Sage Foundation, UN International Labor Office, Tennessee state government, and Metropolitan Government of Nashville-Davidson County, and has been translated into Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish. A member of the the Sociological Research Association (national honorary society), he is the recipient of the 1993 Outstanding Graduate Teacher Award from Vanderbilt University and the 2000 Excellence in Education Award (Sociology) of the Labor and Employment Relations Association (formerly the Industrial Relations Research Association). He was elected Chair of the Section on Organizations, Occupations, and Work of the American Sociological Association, and appointed Chair of the Department of Sociology at Vanderbilt University, a member of the editorial boards of several U.S., Latin American, and European scholarly journals, and a member of NSF, NIH, and European Union grant review panels.
