Phyllis Moen

Phyllis Moen
Born (1942-10-27) October 27, 1942 (age 82)
Spouses
  • Dick Shore
  • Arnold Moen
Academic background
EducationBS, Social Science, 1971, MA, Sociology, 1973, University of North Dakota
PhD, 1978, University of Minnesota
ThesisFamily impacts of the 1975 recession: unemployment among families with children (1978)
Academic work
InstitutionsUniversity of Minnesota
Cornell University

Phyllis Moen (nee Elkins; born October 27, 1942) is an American sociologist. She is the McKnight Presidential Chair in Sociology at the University of Minnesota, and was previously the Ferris Family Professor of Life Course Studies at Cornell University. While at Cornell she founded the Bronfenbrenner Life Course Center, as well as the Cornell Careers Institute, an Alfred P. Sloan Working Families Center.

Early life and education

Moen was born on October 27, 1942.[1] She earned her Bachelor of Science and master's degree from the University of North Dakota and her PhD from the University of Minnesota.[2]

Career

Cornell

Upon completing her PhD, Moen accepted a faculty position at Cornell University. She was appointed the Ferris Family Professor of Life Course Studies and also the director of the Bronfenbrenner Life Course Center. In this role, she published Women's Two Roles: A Contemporary Dilemma which focused on issues surrounding new parents re-entering the workforce.[3] In 1996, Cornell opened the Cornell Employment and Family Careers Institute which she also directed.[4] Moen was then appointed the director of the Cornell Retirement and Well-Being Study which "examined the latest research and trends in volunteerism and how life-course factors affect volunteering."[5] This led to the publication of her co-authored book The State of Americans: This Generation and the Next in 1996[6] and A Nation Divided: Diversity, Inequality and Community in American Society.[7]

In 2000, Moen accepted a fellowship at the Harvard University's Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study for one year. During her fellowship, she researched dual-earner couples, investigating the simultaneous and shifting relationships among "his" career, "her" career, and their "family" career. Moen also "focused on the economic, social, and psychological consequences of various career trajectories and family strategies in light of the existing policies and practices of work organizations and communities."[8]

Her research accumulated into two books in 2003; It's About Time: Couples and Careers[9] and Residential Choices and Experiences of Older Adults: Pathways to Life Quality. The first book she co-edited was based on the Cornell Couples and Careers Study which found that most two-career couples faced numerous stressors in their lives as the current Breadwinner model assumed there was a full-time homemaker at home.[10] Her following book was a joint project with John Krout of Ithaca College's Gerontology Institute that detailed the results of a six-year longitudinal study that began in 1997.[11]

University of Minnesota

Moen left Cornell University in 2003 to accept the McKnight Presidential Chair in Sociology at the University of Minnesota.[12] While there, she partnered with Erin L. Kelly to study a new workplace flexibility initiative called ROWE (Results Only Work Environment). The goal was to understand the ways this initiative affected employees' productivity and life quality, as well as the health and well-being of their family members.[13]

As a result of her academic work, Moen received numerous accolades in 2015. To begin the year, she was elected President of the Work and Family Researchers Network (WFRN) and invited to be a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University.[14] Later that year, Moen was the recipient of the Dean's Medal for her excellence in scholarship and creativity activity.[15] Nearing the end of her first term as President of the WFRN, her co-authored paper "Changing Work and Work-Family Conflict Evidence from the Work, Family, and Health Network" received 2015 Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award for Excellence in Work-Family Research.[16] Two years later, Moen was recognized by AARP Minnesota and Pollen Midwest as one of 2017's “50 over 50”, a list of fifty of the most "inspiring and accomplished leaders from across Minnesota."[17]

During the COVID-19 pandemic in North America, Moen was the recipient of the WFRN Lifetime Achievement Award for her "enduring contributions to the work-family community."[18]

Personal life

Moen was married to the late Dick Shore, who was a U.S. Department of Labor employee and a teacher.[19] She was formerly married to Arnold Moen and they had two daughters together.[20]

References

  1. ^ "Moen, Phyllis". id.loc.gov. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
  2. ^ "Phyllis E Moen". cla.umn.edu. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
  3. ^ Finison, Carrie (June 11, 1992). "CU's Moen explores women's role as parent, worker". The Ithaca Journal. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  4. ^ Lang, Susan (September 12, 1996). "New $3 million institute is established to focus on working families" (PDF). Cornell Chronicle. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  5. ^ Lang, Susan (May 13, 1996). "Volunteering is linked to well-being during retirement, Cornell study finds". Cornell Chronicle. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  6. ^ Lang, Susan (August 8, 1996). "Book warns of societal breakdown threatening Americans of all ages". Cornell Chronicle. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  7. ^ Lang, Susan S (August 27, 1999). "New book explores diversity, inequality and community in American society". Cornell Chronicle. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  8. ^ "Phyllis Moen". radcliffe.harvard.edu. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  9. ^ Voydanoff, Patricia; Fitz, Raymond L. (2003). "Book Review: It's about Time: Couples and Careers. Phyllis Moen (ed.)". Journal of Family and Economic Issues. 24 (3): 319–321. doi:10.1023/A:1025403623337. S2CID 141870536. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  10. ^ Lang, Susan S. (March 10, 2003). "New book studies dual-career couples and calls for innovative employer policies that recognize needs of families". Cornell Chronicle. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  11. ^ Lang, Susan S. (November 25, 2003). "New book offers advice to elderly Americans on planning ahead to gain control over final years of life". Cornell Chronicle. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  12. ^ "Conversations with the Experts" (PDF). flexiblework.umn.edu. September 2009. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  13. ^ "Research and Publications". flexiblework.umn.edu. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  14. ^ "Prof. Phyllis Moen Elected President of Work and Family Researchers Network". cla.umn.edu. February 16, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  15. ^ "Moen Receives Dean's Medal". cla.umn.edu. April 30, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  16. ^ "Moen, Kelly, Oakes and Fan Receive Kantor Award". cla.umn.edu. November 11, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  17. ^ "Phyllis Moen Selected as One of 2017's "50 over 50" Honorees". cla.umn.edu. August 16, 2017. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  18. ^ "WFRN Lifetime Achievement Award". Archived from the original on June 29, 2020. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  19. ^ Freedman, Marc; Moen, Phyllis (April 29, 2005). "Academics Pioneer 'the Third Age'". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Archived from the original on December 31, 2020. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
  20. ^ "AMUND MOEN" (PDF). umclibrary.crk.umn.edu. Retrieved December 31, 2020.