Work, Economy and Organizations Commons^™

Minimum Wage As A Tool For Combatting Renter Burdens, Jack Hanson

Student Research – Stevenson Center

There is a severe shortage of affordable housing in the United States. In 2011, the number of low-cost rental units (units renting for $800 or less per month) stood around 23.5 million, but by 2017, this number dropped to 19.5 million, roughly a 17% decrease (Joint Center for Housing Studies, 2020). The result is that in 2020, only 37 affordable units exist for every 100 of the nation’s 10.8 million extremely low-income renters (those earning 30% or less of the area median income) (National Low Income Housing Coalition, 2021). One contributing factor is that higher-income households are beginning to rent …

Riverine Plastic Pollution In Asia: Results From A Bibliometric Assessment, Peter Yang

Faculty Scholarship

Rivers are important ecosystems, vital to the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of humans and other species. Despite their environmental, social, and economic importance, current use of rivers is unsustainable, due to a combination of solid waste and high levels of pollutants. Plastic materials are among the most predominant of such pollutants. Based on the need for additional research in this area, this study examines pressures put to rivers and explores trends related to riverine plastic pollution, with a focus on Asia. Apart from the bibliometric analysis, and relying on the collected information, examples describing the drivers of riverine plastic …

The Future Of Work In Education: Teachers’ Professional Commitment In A Changing World, Ee Ling Low, Sao-Ee Goh, Jocelyn Shi Yah Tan

New England Journal of Public Policy

In the midst of a changing global societal workplace and landscape, it is natural to hunt for stability. In the educational realm, however, finding stability is about what we can simplify and clarify in order to keep driving a high level of professional commitment by teachers with the goal of producing high teacher-quality outcomes. This article aims to identify the factors that drive teachers’ career-long commitment to their profession. We studied thirty-five primary school teachers across six career stages, from beginning teachers to those close to retirement, to uncover essential conditions, such as a supportive school leadership that helps teachers …

Jasmine’S Day: An Ai Education Story, Rob Weil

New England Journal of Public Policy

No abstract provided.

Collective Bargaining And Digitalization: A Global Survey Of Union Use Of Collective Bargaining To Increase Worker Control Over Digitalization, Eckhard Voss, Daniel Bertossa

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article outlines and collates exemplary clauses from collective bargaining agreements and similar sources, such as guidelines for union negotiators on digitalization in public and private services. Based on the evaluation of agreements and single clauses and their mapping along seven key dimensions of workers’ rights and protection as regards digital technology in the workplace, the research shows that collective bargaining provides clear added value in the absence of legal provisions and by complementing and tailoring existing regulation to sectoral and workplace specificities, new emerging risks, and other challenges. The research that will feed into an online database on the …

Reshaping The Digitization Of Public Services, Christina J. Colclough

New England Journal of Public Policy

Across the world, public services are rapidly being digitized. However, because of poor public procurement supplier contracts, poor laws, and a lack of governance processes and bodies, and because of competency gaps from all parties involved, digitization is happening in a void. As a consequence, harms are caused and rights are violated, threatening the future of quality public services. From the vantage point of public services as a service as well as a workplace, this article discusses potential remedies to ensure that digitalization does not affect the quality of public services as services and as places of employment. It spells …

Smart Education Technology: How It Might Transform Teaching (And Learning), Stéphan Vincent-Lancrin

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article highlights the importance of digitalization as a societal trend for education and discusses how artificial intelligence and learning analytics are transforming (or have the potential to transform) educational practices. It showcases the opportunities of smart technologies for education systems and how the work and role of teachers could be affected, before making some forward-looking concluding remarks.

At The Intersection Of The Future Of Work And Education, David Edwards

New England Journal of Public Policy

“At the Intersection of the Future of Work and Education” explores work in education as well as the contribution of education to the future of work in other sectors. It argues that, in both instances, a strong, well-financed, high-quality system of public education is needed.

The operation of school systems during the pandemic deepened long-standing problems of financing, segregation, inequality, and discrimination inside and between countries. Distance learning was a quantum leap in the use of artificial intelligence and other technology depriving learners of social relationships.

Governments are not implementing the Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal 4 on education. That …

Proactive Union And Teacher Strategies For Shaping Technology In Education, Thomas A. Kochan

New England Journal of Public Policy

Artificial intelligence and related technologies will have profound effects on the future of work in all industries and occupations, including education. But technology has no predetermined effects. How it will change work, working conditions, and the performance of organizations depends on who participates in the key decisions that (1) define the problems technology is asked to solve, (2) set the design parameters that shape specific applications, (3) link new technologies and work processes, (4) ensure that the workforce is well-prepared to use advanced technologies, (5) determine who controls the data generated by these tools, and (6) address the needs of …

A.I.’S Impact On Jobs, Skills, And The Future Of Work: The Unesco Perspective On Key Policy Issues And The Ethical Debate, Gabriela Ramos

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article discusses how the principles, values, and actionable policy areas detailed in the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI can help steer the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on jobs, skills, and the future of work in an inclusive, accountable, transparent, and people-centered way, and in line with the rule of law. It also discusses the provisions contained in this normative instrument compared with existing evidence on the cognitive and socioemotional skills required in the digital era, and the way AI is shaping job tasks, employment dynamics, and occupational mobility-related needs. It examines the challenges and possibilities related …

Crafting An Innovation Ecosystem That Works For Working People, Amanda Ballantyne, Patrick Woodall, Katie Corrigan, Edward Wytkind

New England Journal of Public Policy

The rapid pace and expanding scope of technological change is reshaping work and the workplace. These innovations can benefit workers by improving safety, reducing physical or repetitive burdens, or creating new types of jobs. But automation and new technologies can also eliminate workers, deskill occupations, reduce autonomy and job satisfaction, and erode economic stability for working families that contribute to the rising economic and racial inequality. These technologies do not fall from the sky; they are incubated in an innovation ecosystem shaped by public policy and public-research funding that is driven largely by an oligopoly of Big Tech companies and …

Preparing Rural Youth For The Future Of Work Through Remote Work Education, Andrea T. Schmutz, Alison Campbell, Abbey Bean, Amanda D. Ali, Paul Hill, Emy Swadley

Outcomes and Impact Quarterly

With population migration out of Utah's rural communities threatening the future workforce in small towns, Utah State University Extension recognized an opportunity to provide remote work education to rural youth to empower them to remain in their communities and seek remote employment. Teaming up with Utah's Rural Online Initiative program, Utah State University Extension created the virtual 4-H Remote Skills Camp: For College and Career Readiness.

Stumptown On Strike With Garrett Palmer, Garrett Palmer

PDXPLORES Podcast

In this episode of PDXPLORES, Garrett Palmer (History, '22) discusses the 1934 Portland Waterfront Strike. The strike has largely been portrayed as "static", where striking workers clashed with the establishment at the hiring halls and the docks of Portland. While that is correct, it is a bit simplistic; we can glean more from the event by considering how urban space, the relationship between metropole and hinterlands, and the role of unconventional groups played roles in the strike. That line of inquiry ultimately showcases that this event was anything but static, as groups like church parishes, the Communist Party, sex workers, …

Narrating Agricultural Resilience After Hurricane María: How Smallholder Farmers In Puerto Rico Leverage Self-Sufficiency And Collaborative Agency In A Climate-Vulnerable Food System, Abrania Marrero, Andrea Lόpez-Cepero, Ramón Borges-Méndez, Josiemer Mattei

Sustainability and Social Justice

Climate change is a threat to food system stability, with small islands particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events. In Puerto Rico, a diminished agricultural sector and resulting food import dependence have been implicated in reduced diet quality, rural impoverishment, and periodic food insecurity during natural disasters. In contrast, smallholder farmers in Puerto Rico serve as cultural emblems of self-sufficient food production, providing fresh foods to local communities in an informal economy and leveraging traditional knowledge systems to manage varying ecological and climatic constraints. The current mixed methods study sought to document this expertise and employed a questionnaire and narrative interviewing …

Perceptions Of Economic Vulnerability And Public Opinion In The United States: A Theoretical, Historical, And Quantitative Approach, Cody R. Melcher

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation combines three related essays that analyze the effect of the perception of economic vulnerability on the social and political attitudes of Americans. Through a heterodox reading of W.E.B. Du Bois’s intellectual work and political career in the latter half of his life, the first essay develops the theoretical thrust of the dissertation. It is argued that Du Bois primarily grounds white supremacy in an elementary feature of capitalism: the fact that survival under capitalism presumes the successful engagement, either directly or indirectly, with the labor market. Due to the historical legacy of slavery, however, labor market competition in …

The Economic And Demographic Dynamics Of Pretrial Justice, Christopher Thomas

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Scholars since Rusche (1978 [1933]) have tried to explain the observed relationship between changes in punishment patterns and changes in local labor markets, most recently framing the criminal justice system as a racialized labor market institution. In an era of bail and jail reform, this dissertation contributes to the literature on the causes and consequences of changes in one especially salient form of punishment, pretrial detention. In particular, it focuses on the macro relationship between pretrial detention and local labor markets. Prior research in this tradition has examined how changes in labor markets lead to changes in penality, as reflected …

Diversion: Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion And The Nonprofit Organization, Leah E. Glass

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work is a billion-dollar industry that companies across all industries utilize to “transform” their workplaces and for many, increase profit. Despite the resources invested, there is, unfortunately, little to show for it. This qualitative case study draws on three years of ethnographic fieldwork and interviews at a national nonprofit, Education for All (EFA), to examine how DEI, coupled with organizational culture and structure, works to engrain inequality, rather than lessen it.

This research is based on 49 interviews with employees at Education for All, supplemented with observations and analyses of organizational artifacts. This study uncovers …

Happiness And Policy Implications: A Sociological View, Sarah M. Kahl

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The World Happiness Report is released every year, ranking each country by who is “happier” and explaining the variables and data they have used. This project attempts to build from that base and create a machine learning algorithm that can predict if a country will be in a “happy” or “could be happier” category. Findings show that taking a broader scope of variables can better help predict happiness. Policy implications are discussed in using both big data and considering social indicators to make better and lasting policies.

Inaccessible Interpolated Imagery: How Coffee Farmers In The State Of Chiapas Might Access Political Economic Opportunity Through Representation, Paolo Fiann Bicchieri

Master's Theses

Here is a useful parable to boil down the idea of this project and set the tone: when one goes to the bar to tell a story about a fight at the bar, they would never venture to place themselves as the hero of the brawl, taking out three drunkards in a single punch, unless they were really in the bar, at that time, fighting a good fight. One would never do this as the bartender, locals, and regulars would all know if this were the case or not. Yet transnational corporations, governments, and even consumers do this all the …

Towards Safer Recruitment Of Ethiopian Women Into Domestic Work Abroad: Early Findings From The Meneshachin ‘Our Departure’ Qualitative Study, Joanna Busza, Zewdneh Shewamene, Cathy Zimmerman

Gender Equality and Equity

This report presents preliminary findings from the first phase of data collection of the Meneshachin ‘Our Departure’ qualitative study conducted by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in collaboration with the Population Council in Ethiopia and the Freedom Fund, with support and funding from the U.S. Department of State. The study aims to inform the development of feasible, responsible recruitment measures that could reduce the risk of labor exploitation and trafficking experienced by Ethiopian migrant women seeking domestic work abroad. The research focuses on the role of different actors in arranging Ethiopian women’s migration to the Middle East …