Dr. Ellen Kosssek was a keynote speaker in Amsterdam to the Dutch version of the U.s. magazine, Working Mother and  followed the speech with research in the Netherlands to evaluate the effectiveness of leadership training on work-life competencies and boundary management. 

The German Ministry also sponsored her talk to the top 1% of women leaders in Germany that are socially active in making a difference for the people in their country.

Dr.  Kossek spoke at the College and University Work Family Association (CUWFA) conference at the University of Michigan in May 2012. Women in Higher Education wrote an article discussing the topic presented: how Kossek's WorkLife Indicator tool and the Center for Creative Leadership can be used to manage work boundaries and life satisfaction. Dr. Ellen Kossek applies her research in work-life balance to that of the typical woman with a career in higher education, suggesting that camups faculty work in a service role, available at all hours of the day. This leads to a higher need to balance work and life for each faculty member. Kossek referes to the necessity of separating the two as "'boundary management,' which she defines as understanding your priorities and learning how to integrate or protect them." (WIHE) Divided into three styles: integrators, separators, and volleyers/cyclers, there are different key approaches to consider for each group.

To find out how to adapt your balance to your style, visit http://www.wihe.com/displayNews.jsp?id=37665 to read the whole article.

When applying for a job or asking your boss for a more flexible schedule, it is critical to show how your work-life balance will benefit the company, not just you. Dr. Ellen Kossek was quoted in an article by Vicki Elmer on the Glassdoor.com blog about how to approach the topic of work-life balance. To view the entire article visit:

 http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/show-worklife-balance/

An article from the Kalamazoo Gazette outlines the increase in the number of people working mulitiple jobs. This can happen as a result of people fulfilling their own desires to work in varital jobs that they enjoy, or from the inability to make ends meet without the multiple jobs. Ellen Kossek was interviewd and spoke about the consequences of working mulitiple jobs. There are especially concerns of "increased stress issues and because, while three part-time jobs might add up to the same hours of work, they do not usually equal one salaried job with benefits. And she’s also worried that people with “mosaic careers,” who she says are more likely to be women, might inadvertently have stepped off the “career escalator” to better-paying salaried positions."

To read the full article, visit:

http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2012/03/multiple_jobs_is_the_new_norma.html

The School of Human Resources and Labor Relations at Michigan State University has released a video that explains their Master's Degree program. Please take a few minutes to see what its all about!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TevsIGInlIA

The Work and Family Commons (WFC), the first open access work and family subject matter repository and hosted by the Work and Family Researchers Network has been launched!  The WFC was created to gather and preserve the intellectual output of the work and family research community and to offer immediate, permanent and free online access to the full text of research articles for anyone, worldwide.

Setting up an account is free so make sure you check it out so you have access to a variety of work family research!

The WorkLife indicator is up on the Center for Creative Leadership website and is ready for use!

The indicator assess how an individual approaches managing the balance between work and family issues that provides quick, online feedback with customized tips. It went live on the CCL website on November 1st. Check it out HERE.

The event took place on November 11, 2011 and the topic was "Constructing Our Future: Exploring The Values, Strategic Processes and Change Mechanisms of Work-Life Policies".