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2019 KANTER LECTURE

Invisible families, invisible conflicts: Examining the added layer of work-family conflict for employees with LGB families

Katina Sawyer, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Management
George Washington University

For employees in same-sex relationships, work and family domains often conflict in unique ways that result in stress that is not experienced by those with heterosexual family structures. Challenging heteronormative assumptions of “family,” Dr. Sawyer and her colleagues examined the work-family conflict (WFC) experiences of employees with LGB families to develop new theory regarding the additional WFCs and associated family identity management behaviors and psychological strains faced by LGB employees who perceive their family identity to be stigmatized at work.

At the Lecture, Dr. Sawyer will discuss her Kanter Nominated research which called attention to the overly restricted assumptions about “family” in prior WFC research, and seeks to serve as an impetus for aligning WFC research more fully with the complex realities of modern organizational life.

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2018 Kanter Award nominated article: Sawyer, K. B., Thoroughgood, C., & Ladge, J. (2017). Invisible families, invisible conflicts: Examining the added layer of work-family conflict for employees with LGB families. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 103, 23-39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2017.08.004

  • Friday, April 12, 2019
  • Rawls Hall, Rm 3058
  • Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
  • The Kanter Lecture Series is free and open to the public.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Katina Sawyer, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Management at the George Washington University in the School of Business. Her areas of expertise include diversity, work-life balance, leadership, and negative workplace behaviors. With regard to her applied experience, for three years, Dr. Sawyer worked on a grant from the Department of Defense, evaluating military training systems and determining their effectiveness for increasing solider performance. Dr. Sawyer was able to provide independent HR consulting services for various organizations, creating selection systems, performance appraisal processes, trainings, and participating in test development. During and after her graduate work, she worked as an independent consultant and for SHL, a global consulting firm, on the Optimization Services team. While working for SHL, Dr. Sawyer was able to work with many Fortune 500 companies, specifically focusing on gathering and utilizing HR metrics to demonstrate ROI for HR selection systems.

Katina holds a dual-Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and Women’s Studies from the Pennsylvania State University. She received her B.A. in Psychology from Villanova University.

SPONSORED BY

The Center for Families
Susan Bulkeley Butler Center for Leadership Excellence
Krannert School of Management
Department of Psychological Sciences
Department of Sociology 
Department of Human Development and Family Studies