Associate professor
Max Rady College of Medicine
Community Health Sciences
Room 314B Human Ecology Building
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N2
Karen Duncan, PhD, PHEc
Accepting graduate students
- Master’s - Yes
- PhD - Yes
Research themes
- Economic and financial security of families
Research interests
- consumer insolvency
- cost of raising children
- economic costs of family caregiving
- family businesses
- time use
- work-family interrelationships
Keywords
- care-related out-of-pocket expenses
- financial hardship
- family caregiving
- economics of aging
- work-family balance
Research affiliations
- Member, Financial Consumer Agency of Canada research committee on financial literacy
Research summary
Dr. Karen Duncan’s research focuses on the economic and financial security of families and individuals. Her most recent work explores the economic costs of family caregiving, particularly as these costs relate to experiencing financial hardship.
She has continuing research interests in the areas of work-family interrelationships, consumer insolvency, families in business, and time use.
She holds or has held funding from SSHRC, the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, and the Canadian Home Economics Foundation.
Biography
Dr. Karen Duncan is an associate professor in community health sciences at the University of Manitoba.
She is a social scientist whose specialty is family economics and family resource management. She is passionate about engaging in research that explores the connections between paid work and the unpaid care work of families and the implications of this work for families and for policy. She has extensive experience analyzing household survey data and has numerous publications and presentations based on these analyses.
Dr. Duncan is past president of the American Council on Consumer Interests and a member of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada research committee on financial literacy. She has twice served on the board of Community Financial Counselling Services in Winnipeg.
Dr. Duncan has received awards for both research and teaching excellence. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the areas of family economic health, family finance, consumer issues, work-family issues, and caregiving across the life course.
Education
- PhD, Ohio State University
- Master of science, Ohio State University
- Bachelor of science in home economics (with distinction), University of Saskatchewan
Awards
- First place, research poster competition, American Council on Consumer Interests (2020)
- Teaching Excellence Award, University of Manitoba Students’ Union and University Teaching Services (2005)
- Manitoba Association of Home Economists (MAHE) Excellence in Teaching Award (1997, 2000, 2004)
- Northeastern Regional Association of State Agricultural Experiment Station Directors 2001 Award for Excellence (presented to members of the research team of “Family Businesses: Interaction in Work and Family Spheres”) in recognition of outstanding contributions to Northeastern multistate research (2001)
- Founders’ Award for Excellence in Research Methodology, Canadian Association for Research in Home Economics (2000)
ORCID profile
Visit Karen Duncan’s ORCID profile for a complete listing.
Contact us
Community Health Sciences
Max Rady College of Medicine
Room S113 - 750 Bannatyne Avenue
University of Manitoba (Bannatyne campus)
Winnipeg, MB R3E 0W3 Canada
204-789-3655