How Family Structure and After-Work Plans Shape Work Contributions

Family structure—the presence or absence of a spouse and/ or children—is often treated as a signal of an individual’s ability to devote themselves to work, due to assumptions about how family structure predicts life outside of work. Organizational research has documented these assumptions extensively showing that the dominant expectation is that family responsibilities have a negative effect on work. In this presentation, Dumas summarizes findings from her published work examining the ways employees’ family responsibilities can enhance their contributions at work. Drawing on a combination of surveys and interviews from hundreds of workers, her findings also consider non-traditional family structures as well as the role of race in the work-family experience.

Tracy L. Dumas, Ph.D. is a Professor of Management and Human Resources at the Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business. Her research examines the connection between employees’ work experiences and their nonwork roles and identities, and is published in top academic journals such as Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Duke Journal of Gender Law and Policy, Journal of Applied Psychology, and Organization Science. She has also written articles for Harvard Business Review. Additionally, several media outlets have profiled her work including Forbes.com, Fast Company, and Harvard Business Review Women at Work podcast.

Dumas earned her PhD in Management and Organizations from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Prior to entering academia, Dumas managed client projects for a Chicago-based consulting and research firm specializing in workforce issues.