Dr. Gwen Fisher is an Associate Professor of industrial/organizational psychology at Colorado State University and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health in the Colorado School of Public Health. She also directs the Colorado State occupational health psychology training program, which is part of the Mountain and Plains Education and Research Center funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. She earned her B.A. in psychology at Penn State University and her M.A. and Ph.D. in psychology from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Prior to her position at Colorado State, she was a Research Scientist at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research. Dr. Fisher’s research examines how work and individual factors relate to worker health, well-being, and retirement. To date she has published over 70 articles and chapters on a variety of topics related to worker health and well-being. Gwen has a strong passion and quest for work/life balance and enjoys working with companies and workers to reduce work stress and the improve quality of work life. When she is not working, she enjoys spending time with her family (including her husband, two active boys, and two dogs), skiing, hiking, playing ice hockey, traveling, cooking, and spending time with friends.
Abstract: The work environment has shifted rapidly over the last year due to the COVID pandemic and more people working at home than ever before. Remote work blurs the boundary between work and home, which can make separating work from non-work more difficult and lead to negative consequences for worker well-being. This presentation will discuss the importance of worker well-being, evidence-based research about work stress, the reasons why establishing a healthy work/life balance is important, and specific recommendations to improve work/life balance.