Melissa Milkie

Melissa Milkie is Professor of Sociology and Chair of the tri-campus Graduate Department. Professor Milkie’s expertise lies in the areas of gender & family, the work-family interface, culture, and mental health. She teaches courses such as the sociology of mental health, social psychology, the life course, intersections of gender, work & family, and research methods.

Professor Milkie’s research focuses on structural and cultural changes in gender, work and family life over recent decades and how work-family configurations are linked to mental health and well-being. She has a special interest in time and health, and is Principle Investigator of the 2019-2023 Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight grant on the complexities of family members’ time together and apart in Canada and the U.S. Her current work examines time allocations of and time pressures on parents; work-family conflicts and health; refugee mothers’ strains as they integrate children into new communities; and cultural images of mothers and fathers in media. Her research has also been supported by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Professor Milkie was recently named as one of the top-cited work-family researchers in the world by the Work-Family Researchers Network (WFRN). She’s published in journals such as American Sociological Review (ASR), Social Forces, Journal of Marriage and Family, Society and Mental Health and Social Psychology Quarterly and is author of the award-winning book Changing Rhythms of American Family Life, written during her time as Professor at the University of Maryland. Professor Milkie has been deputy editor at ASR and Gender & Society and she served as a National Science Foundation (NSF) Advance Professor of Inclusive Excellence at Maryland. Up-to-date publications and information on Professor Milkie’s Research Team PACT (Parents and Children Together) can be found at https://melissamilkie.com/