Lieke ten Brummelhuis
I am an Associate Professor in Management at SFU’s Beedie School of Business, and author of “Work-Life Strategy: Finding Happiness While Juggling Multiple Roles”. Since 2005, I have researched how work and family life are interconnected, and how for instance, our personal life affects how we perform at work. When I became a mom in 2014, I became even more motivated to find an answer to the question of how we can be happy while trying to juggle family life with a career.
Based on insight from more than 18 years of research as well as my personal life, the book offers insights and concrete steps that can help people thrive while they combine multiple roles. For many people, those roles might be work and family, but the model is for anyone as most of us juggle multiple roles (e.g., being a friend and employee).
I am also writing blogs in which I share how my juggling act works, including all its ups and downs. In the past 9 years, my family life has developed from being a single mom to one kid, to being a married and having a patchwork family of three kids. My life certainly is not perfect, but it is good. By sharing some research insights, tips, and tricks, I hope your life will be too.
Since August 2024, I am a Contributor to Forbes, sharing evidence-based management insights on topics such as work-life balance, long work hours, and employee health.
I am proud to be a Dutch and Canadian citizen, and I’m particularly grateful to live in Canada with my husband and our kids. I love the outdoors and staying active, including hiking, swimming, skiing, and running.
Research & Education
My research interests are related to employee well-being including employee recovery, workaholism, work-life balance, and physical activity. I am motivated to find an answer to the question of why people work in the way they do, and what work styles improve work outcomes, work-life balance, and well-being.
My work has been published in top academic journals such as American Psychologist, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Management, Academy of Management Discoveries, and Journal of Organizational Behavior. My research has been featured in articles published by Harvard Business Review.
I obtained my PhD (2019) in organizational sociology from Utrecht University, the Netherlands, followed by postdoc positions at Erasmus University Rotterdam. In 2011, I received a Rubicon grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) which allows young talented researchers to gain research experience abroad. Hosted by Drexel University and University of Pennsylvania (Wharton), I spent two years in Philadelphia to do research on the work-home interface before starting my job at SFU.