Faculty

Susan J. Lambert, Ph.D.

Susan J. Lambert is Associate Professor in the School of Social Service Administration. Her fields of special interest include lower-skilled jobs and low-wage workers, work-life issues, and organizational theory and management.

At SSA, Professor Lambert teaches courses on the labor market and lower-skilled jobs, organizational theory and development, and doctoral-level research methods. Currently, Lambert is co-Principal Investigator (with Julia Henly) of a cluster-randomized field experiment that will assess the worker- and store-level effects of a workplace intervention intended to improve scheduling practices in entry-level retail jobs. She recently completed a study of 88 lower-skilled jobs in 22 workplaces in 4 industries (retail, hospitability, transportation, and financial services). Her research is supported by grants from the Ford Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and the Russell Sage Foundation.

Professor Lambert has published broadly on the issue of employment and worker well-being, co-editing a book with Ellen Kossek, Work and Life Integration: Organizational, Cultural, and Individual Perspectives (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2005). Other recent publications include Lambert, S. & Henly, J.R. (2007). "Low-level jobs and work family studies." [In P. Raskin & M. Pitt Catsoupes, (Eds.) Work-Family Encyclopedia. Sloan Work-Family Research Network, Boston College], Lambert, S. (2006). "Both Art and Science: Employing Organizational Documentation in Workplace-based Research." [In M. Pitt-Catsouphes, E.E. Kossek, & S. Sweet (Eds.), Handbook on Work-Family Research. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates]; Henly, J.R. & Lambert, S. (2005). "Nonstandard Work and Child Care Needs of Low-Income Parents." [In S. Bianchi, L. Casper & R. King (Eds.), Work, Family, Health, & Well-being. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates]; and Lambert, S. & Haley-Lock, A. (2004). "The Organizational Stratification of Opportunities for Work-Life Balance: Addressing Issues of Equality and Social Justice in the Workplace." Community, Work & Family, 7(2), 181-197.

Lambert received a B.A. summa cum laude in Psychology from Eastern Michigan University, a M.S.W. (Social Program Evaluation) and a Ph.D. in Social Work and Social Science (Organizational Psychology) from the University of Michigan.