Friday, October 23, 2026

Thomas Kochan, Duanyi Yang, Erin L. Kelly and Will Kimball

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Thomas Kochan is the George Maverick Bunker Professor of Management, a Professor of Work and Employment Research and Engineering Systems, and the CoDirector of the MIT Sloan Institute for Work and Employment Research at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Kochan focuses on the need to update America’s work and employment policies, institutions, and practices to catch up with a changing workforce and economy. His recent work calls attention to the challenges facing working families in meeting their responsibilities at work, at home, and in their communities. Through empirical research, he demonstrates that fundamental changes in the quality of employee and labor-management relations are needed to address America’s critical problems in industries ranging from healthcare to airlines to manufacturing. His most recent book is Shaping the Future of Work (Business Experts Press, 2016). Kochan holds a BBA in personnel management as well as an MS and a PhD in industrial relations from the University of Wisconsin. Duanyi Yang is a PhD candidate at MIT Institute for Work and Employment Research. Her research covers topics on organizational conflict and worker voice, labor standards in global value chains, and flexible work arrangements in organizations. Erin L. Kelly is the Sloan Distinguished Professor of Work and Organization Studies at the MIT Sloan School of Management and affiliated with the Institute for Work and Employment Research. Erin’s research investigates the adoption, implementation, and consequences of work-family and anti-discrimination policies in U.S. workplaces. She is part of the Work, Family and Health Network, which was supported by the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control. Kelly has also investigated non-compliance with the Family and Medical Leave Act, how U.S. companies manage flexible work arrangements, and the effects of corporate affirmative action, diversity, and family policies on the representation of white women, women of color, and men of color in managerial and professional positions. Kelly received the Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award for Work-Family Research and has published articles in leading journals including the American Sociological Review and the American Journal of Sociology. Prior to her appointment at MIT Sloan, Erin held the Martindale Chair in Sociology at the University of Minnesota and an affiliate of the Minnesota Population Center and the Life Course Center. She was also a member of the graduate faculty at the Carlson School of Management. She received her BA in sociology from Rice University and her MA and PhD in sociology from Princeton University. Will Kimball is pursuing his doctoral degree at MIT in the Institute for Work and Employment Research. His research covers topics on inequality, worker voice, and employment arrangements.

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