Claremont McKenna College

Berger Institute for Work, Family, and Children

Berger InstituteThe Berger Institute for Work, Family, and Children was established in 2001 to be a leading source of research on significant issues impacting the intersection between work and family. The Berger Institute focuses on quantitative research impacting business practices and families; supports high-quality interdisciplinary research by talented CMC professors, which will lead to publishing opportunities; provides challenging and stimulating educational experiences for CMC students from freshman year through graduation, resulting in high-quality student work and publishing opportunities; and connects the wider CMC community, including alumni and parents of students to provide practical information about significant work/family issues.

Subscribe to the Berger Institute electronic newsletter to receive more information on work and family issues.  To view the most recent issue, click here.


Alumni Survey

The Berger Institute has undertaken a new research project examining work/family issues among female and male graduates of liberal arts colleges with a particular focus on one's decision to exit the labor market to care for one's family.  We created our own online survey instrument to examine these issues from an interdisciplinary perspective.  The Alumni Survey was piloted at each of the undergraduate Claremont Colleges in the Spring and Summer of 2010.  Data are currently being collected and analyzed.  The long-term goal of this research is to survey all undergraduate alumni of liberal arts colleges nationwide. 

Events & Speakers

September 22nd, 2010:  Women in Science and Medicine: Can You Achieve Work/Life Satisfaction?  A lunch panel discussion, 11:45am - 1:15pm at the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum. Panel members: Stephanie Cropper, M.D., Jean Doble, M.B.S., Nina Karnovsky, Ph.D., and Angelika Niemz, Ph.D.

March 2nd, 2011: Women in Finance: Can You Achieve Work/Family Satisfaction? At the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum.  Panel members to be announced.

Congratulations!

William AscherBerger Institute Faculty Affiliate, William Ascher, Ph.D., the Donald C. McKenna Professor of Government and Economics, has been awarded the 2010 Levine Book Prize for his book, Bringing in the Future: Strategies for Farsightedness and Sustainability in Developing Countries (University of Chicago Press, 2009). Click here to read the full story.

 

Anna Beninger, CMC '09Anna Beninger (CMC '09), the first recipient of the Berger Institute Fellowship, recently completed her Master's dissertation at the London School of Economics titled Women in Academia: A Cross-Cultural Perspective on Work/Life Balance.  Her dissertation is the culmination of a 2 year effort which began here at CMC.  Click here to read the full paper. 

The "Opt-Out Revolution"

Director of the Institute and Professor Heather Antecol presents new evidence on the opt-out revolution in the paper entitled "The Opt-Out Revolution: A Descriptive Analysis".  Using data from the 1980, 1990, and 2000 U.S. Census, she finds little support for the opt-out revolution—highly educated women, relative to their less educated counterparts, are exiting the labor force to care for their families at higher rates today than in earlier time periods—if one focuses solely on the decision to work a positive number of hours irrespective of marital status or race.  If one, however, focuses on both the decision to work a positive number of hours as well as the decision to adjust annual hours of work (conditional on working), she finds some evidence of the opt-out revolution, particularly among white college educated married women in male dominated occupations.  Click here to read the full paper.

GIVE A GIFT! The Berger Institute depends on contributions from individuals to support its important work. Will you please join our growing family of supporters? To learn more, click here.   We invite you to support the research and students of the Berger Institute with a gift by clicking this link.