Report Launch: Parents, Managers, and Flexible Work: Lessons from Covid-19

When: Wednesday, March 29, 2023, 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Where: Collette Bowe room, (limited in person spaces) and online, Mile End

A report launch and panel discussion for employers and researchers on how lessons from the Covid-19 can be used to manage in future crises

We invite you to attend our research report launch and expert panel discussion hosted by the Centre for Research in Equality and Diversity (CRED). It has been recognised that flexible working is crucial in enabling working parents’ careers, gender equality and can benefit organisations in multiple ways. The research report co-authored by Dr Maria Adamson (CRED Co-Director) presents key findings from a 2-year study that focused on a unique sample - line managers who are parents and who worked from home during and after the Covid-19 lockdowns. The findings show how they managed multiple obligations to their own families, their employers and their staff in crisis. While the key role of line managers in mediating access to flexibility has long been recognised, our findings show that it is not just access that is important, but how the flexible workers are managed and supported in challenging contexts. Our unique findings highlight successful (and unsuccessful) ways of managing working parents in crisis and lessons we can learn for managing future crises. Join us to debate best managerial practices going forwards and discuss future research agendas.

4:00pm – Registration, coffee and networking

4:30-5:00pm – Report Launch: Parents, Managers and Flexible Work

Speakers: Dr Maria Adamson (Queen Mary University of London); Prof Alexandra Beauregard (Birkbeck, University of London); Prof Suzan Lewis (Middlesex University)

5:00-5:30pm – Panel Discussion: New Challenges and Opportunities of Flexible Work post-Covid

Speakers: Prof Clare Kelliher (Cranfield University); Prof Grace James (Reading University); Rukasana Bhaijee, Diversity Equity and Inclusion Practitioner (formerly EMEA DEI Lead at Warner Bros Discovery); Dr Rebecca Jones (Research and Policy Manager at Working Families)

5.30-6pm – Interactive Discussion: Developing Best Practices and New Research Agenda

6pm onwards – Networking, reception, and buffet.