Are men really taking on more responsibilities in the home, as some recent surveys have indicated? If so, will women and men inevitably strike life balance between home and work? If not, what new practices and public policies can transform corporate America and society toward greater gender equity and balance at work and home?

The Ford Foundation and the Institute for Women and Work in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University are sponsoring a symposium to address that topic Wednesday, Oct. 28, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Carnegie Endowment Center for International Peace, 1779 Massachusetts Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C.

The news media are invited to attend the symposium, which will feature these participants:

• Betty Friedan, distinguished visiting professor at Cornell and director of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations' New Paradigm Program, designed to help create new public policy and workplace initiatives to address the needs of people at work.
• Keith H. Hammonds, associate editor of Business Week and author of The Daddy Trap.
• Kelley Holland, associate editor of Business Week."
• James Levine, author of Working Fathers: New Strategies for Balancing Work and Family.
• Anna Padia, vice president, Coalition of Labor Union Women, AFL-CIO.
• Deborah K. Smith, senior vice president, human resources, Merck & Co. Inc.
• Jonathan Stutz, diversity consultant, Microsoft Corp.
• Edward J. Lawler, dean, Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations, moderator.

Future symposia to be offered by the Ford Foundation and Cornell Institute for Women and Work will focus on topics such as outsourcing, flextime and the income gap. The goal of the series is to begin a dialogue to shift conventional thinking beyond gender politics and to address the needs of people at work, in their homes, family and society.

For more information, contact Julie Crotty at the Cornell Institute for Women and Work at (212) 340-2882 or jmc32@cornell.edu.