Jamila Lahmar-Eythrib, a Ph.D. student of the RITM laboratory at Université Paris-Saclay, supervised by Professors Clotilde Coron and Pauline de Becdelièvre, will defend her Ph.D. thesis entitled “Caregiving at Work: From Private Experience to Organizational Issue,” on November 23, 2026. The PhD defense will be held at 2 PM in the Gaudemet Room (Building D of the Jean Monnet Faculty).

Composition of the jury:

  • Émilie Hennequin, Full Professor, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne — Reviewer
  • Hugo Gaillard, Associate Professor, HDR, Le Mans Université — Reviewer
  • François Grima, Full Professor, Université Paris-Est Créteil — Examiner
  • Mélia Arras-Djabi, Associate Professor, HDR, IAE Paris-Sorbonne Business School — Examiner

PhD Thesis Abstract: This thesis examines caregiving at work through the case of parents confronted with the serious illness or disability of their child. It shows that caregiving, often framed as a private or medico-social experience, becomes an organizational and managerial issue when it affects work, professional trajectories and organizational practices. The research adopts a qualitative, interpretive and abductive approach, drawing on three empirical corpora. The first is based on 81 narratives from parents confronted with pediatric oncology, complemented by 37 specialized documents on pediatric oncology. The second comprises 39 interviews with working parent caregivers of children with disabilities. The third is based on 31 interviews with actors responsible for employee caregiver policies in 27 French organizations: HR, CSR, QWL, occupational health, executives, and managers.

The thesis is structured around three empirical essays corresponding to the micro, meso, and macro levels. The first characterizes caregiving as real, invisible work that generates situated competences. The second analyzes caregiving–work tensions and the regulation strategies developed by parent caregivers. The third examines organizational responses to the emergence of caregiving at work, from informal arrangements to responsible HRM policies. This multi-level perspective shows that the management of caregiving rests on three interdependent movements: making caregivers’ invisible work visible, understanding caregiving–work tensions, and structuring forms of recognition and support.