The Centre for Families Work and Well-Being welcomes its new Postdoctoral Fellow, Margo Hilbrecht.

Dr. Hilbrecht recently received her Ph.D. from the University of Waterloo in Recreation and Leisure Studies. Her graduate research focused on time use and work-life integration as it pertains to non-traditional work arrangements, gender and leisure. These interests included perceptions of time pressure and stress associated with the coordination of employment, school, and leisure activities in families with school-age children.

Dr. Hilbrecht’s postdoctoral research is a qualitative study on the social and health consequences of unpredictable work schedules. The purpose of the study is two-fold:
• to develop a better understanding of the effects of irregular or unpredictable work schedules on family life for parents with school-age children; and
• to determine ways in which parents cope with unpredictable work schedules in order to offset the potentially negative effects on family functioning and quality of life.

Parents with irregular work schedules will be interviewed about their reasons for engaging in this type of work arrangement, their satisfaction with the arrangement and its effect on their family life, including opportunities for leisure, and perceptions of well-being.

The study will also compare the experiences of mothers and fathers with unpredictable work schedules, explore parents’ beliefs about their ability to control their work schedules, examine the effects of irregular work patterns on marital and parent-child relationships and identify unique challenges of unpredictable schedules related to gender, social class and family structure.