Kathleen E. Christensen is an American social scientist and author best known for her research on the changing nature of work, including remote and

contingent work Contingent work, casual work, gig work or contract work, is an employment relationship with limited job security, payment on a piece work basis, typically part-time (typically with variable hours) that is considered non-permanent. According to ...

, as well as workplace flexibility. She currently directs the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Working Longer program designed to deepen scholarly and public understanding of aging Americans' work patterns.

Biography

Christensen received her BS from the University of Wisconsin- Green Bay and a PhD from

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

. Prior to joining the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Christensen was a professor of

environmental psychology Environmental psychology is a branch of psychology that explores the relationship between humans and the external world. It examines the way in which the natural environment and our built environments shape us as individuals. Environmental psycho ...

at the Graduate Center of

City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...

, where she was one of the first people to conduct research on remote work and contingent work. Christensen established and led the Alfred P Sloan Foundation's program on working families, which resulted in $130 million of funding for work-family research. She is considered one of the pioneers in the field. In 2003, Christensen launched the national workplace flexibility campaign, which set the goal of making workplace flexibility a compelling national issue and the standard of the American workplace. This campaign funded many research studies and projects related to advancing workplace flexibility over the course of a decade. The program culminated in 2010 with a White House Forum of Workplace Flexibility. In 2010, ''

Working Mother ''Working Mother'' was a magazine for working mothers launched in 1979 by Founding Publisher Milton Lieberman, who was succeeded by Carol Evans. The founding editor of the magazine was Vivian Cadden, who retired as editor in 1990. Subsequent edi ...

'' magazine called Christensen "the foremost strategic supporter of research and initiatives in the area of work-life"." Christensen spoke at the 2014 White House Summit on Working Families and the 2010 White House Forum on Workplace Flexibility. She has written op-eds that have appeared in the

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

and

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' (''AJC'') is an American daily newspaper based in metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger ...

Publications

Books

* Workplace Flexibility: Realigning 20th Century Jobs for a 21st Century Workforce * Contingent Work: American Employment Relations in Transition * Turbulence in the American Workplace * Women and Home-based Work: The Unspoken Contract * The New Era of Home-based Work: Directions and Policies

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christensen, Kathleen Living people American women writers Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women