Dr. Kim De Laat

Biography

Kim de Laat is an Assistant Professor at the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business, University of Waterloo. She is a sociologist specializing in work and culture, focusing her research on inequality and uncertainty in creative knowledge-based organizations. Her work explores the dynamics of how work is performed under varying conditions, particularly in the context of remote and hybrid work arrangements, and the implications these have for gender inequality. Dr. de Laat's scholarship has been featured in leading journals, including Cultural Sociology, New Technology, Work and Employment, Poetics, Socio-Economic Review, Work, Employment and Society, and Work and Occupations. One of her recent articles in ILR Review, titled "Remote Work and Post-Bureaucracy: Unintended Consequences of Work Design on Gender Inequality", exemplifies her research contributions. She is a 2024 Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award Nominee for Excellence in Work-Family Research and serves on the editorial board of Poetics. Beyond academia, she engages with broader audiences through public scholarship published in outlets such as Globe & Mail and Policy Options. Dr. de Laat is currently the Principal Investigator for a SSHRC-funded Insight Development Grant, exploring the implications of hybrid work arrangements on cognitive labor and gender inequality in work and home settings. She is also co-investigating a SSHRC-funded Partnership Grant focused on re-imagining family policies for diverse Canadian families with young children. Passionate about mentoring, she guides students to find joy and meaning in social scientific inquiry while committed to helping them realize their full intellectual and professional potential.

Research Interests