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Rigorous and Relevant Employment Research

The research conducted by IWER scholars is motivated by important real-world questions and challenges that will help shape work’s future. Our faculty members' research projects address a wide range of timely topics, from identifying sources of income inequality to reducing bias in organizational processes.

Nathan Wilmers | Sarofim Family Career Development Associate Professor at MIT Sloan
“If you organize work so that people are doing the same simple, repetitive thing day after day, they are less likely to be learning and developing human capital than if you have a job rotation where people move across multiple tasks within a workplace.”
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New Research by IWER Faculty

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Current IWER Faculty Projects

  • Worker Well-Being

    Professor Erin L. Kelly studies ways to redesign work to benefit both employees and firms. She has been leading a study that seeks to improve job quality in warehouses as well as workers’ health and well-being. Her work also investigates how work-family challenges can be managed.

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  • Reducing Bias in Organizations

    Professor Emilio J. Castilla researches people management processes within organizations. His projects include studying the impact of people analytics and other technological advances on key employment outcomes. 

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  • Inequality and Economic Mobility

    Professor Nathan Wilmers studies wage inequality and economic mobility. He investigates topics such as the effects of how work is organized, and the tasks and skills involved in jobs, on workers' economic mobility.

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  • Labor Markets

    Professor Anna Stansbury studies labor markets, with a particular focus on market power.  Her work includes quantifying the micro- and macroeconomic effects of unionization and investigating firms’ incentives to comply with labor and employment law.

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  • Skills Training and Contract Employment

    Professor Paul Osterman has conducted extensive research on skills development. He is currently studying the implications of contract employment and freelance work for worker well-being and organizational performance. 

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  • Worker Voice

    Professor Thomas A. Kochan focuses on worker voice. He is currently exploring how to bring the voice of the workforce into the development of generative artificial intelligence applications.

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  • Conflict Management

    Professor Mary P. Rowe’s work explores topics related to negotiation and conflict management, including the organizational ombuds profession, harassment and bullying, micro-inequities and micro-affirmations, and the role of bystanders in organizations.

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Inequality and Worker Activism

Image of two male workers standing in front of an industrial or warehouse-type building IWER New Report Finds an Increasing Proportion of “Union Curious” Workers A plateau above a shoreline, with dark clouds above the plateau IWER U.S. Earnings Inequality Plateaued in the Past Decade, New Study Finds Image of the cover of the report "Workers and Employers at a Crossroads" IWER "Workers and Employers at a Crossroads" Report Published Cover of a new report on US Workers' Organizing Efforts and Collective Actions IWER New Report on U.S. Workers' Organizing Efforts and Collective Actions

Recent Publications by IWER Faculty

"Lessons from Market Basket’s Summer of 2014 Shape the Future of Work."

Kochan, Thomas. Boston Globe, August 2024.

Faculty: Thomas Kochan
"Book Review: Our Least Important Asset."

Osterman, Paul. Review of Our Least Important Asset: Why the Relentless Focus on Finance and Accounting Is Bad for Business and Employees, by Peter Cappelli. ILR Review, August 2024.

Faculty: Paul Osterman
"The Fulfillment Center Intervention Study: Protocol for a Group-Randomized Control Trial of a Participatory Workplace Intervention."

Kelly, Erin L., Kirsten F. Siebach, Grace DeHorn, and Megan Lovejoy. PLoS ONE Vol. 19, No. 7 (2024): e0305334.

Faculty: Erin Kelly
"Points of Departure: Family Leave Policy and Women’s Representation in Management in U.S. Organizations."

Mun, Eunmi, Shawna Vican, and Erin L. Kelly. Social Forces Vol. 2024, No. soae080 (2024).

Faculty: Erin Kelly
"“Drafting a Letter” for People Dealing with Harassment or Bullying."

Rowe, Mary. Journal of the International Ombuds Association Vol. 16, No. 2 (2023): 1-17.

Faculty: Mary Rowe
"Using Organizational Values and Mission to Guide Strategic Planning."

Rowe, Mary. Journal of the International Ombudsman Association Vol. 16, No. 2 (2023): 1-5.

Faculty: Mary Rowe
"Employee Cardiometabolic Risk Following a Cluster-Randomized Workplace Intervention From the Work, Family and Health Network, 2009–2013."

Berkman, Lisa F., Erin L. Kelly, Leslie B. Hammer, Frank Mierzwa, Todd Bodner, Tay McNamara, et al. American Journal of Public Health Vol. 113, No. 12 (2023): 1322-1331.

Faculty: Erin Kelly Leslie Ann Owens
"The Gendering of Job Postings in the Online Recruitment Process."

Castilla, Emilio J., and Hye Jin Rho. Management Science Vol. 69, No. 11 (2023): 6912-6939. Download Replication Files.

Faculty: Emilio J. Castilla
"BELONGING: The Feeling That We 'Belong' May Depend in Part on 'Affirmations'."

Rowe, Mary. Journal of the International Ombudsman Association Vol. 16, No. 2 (2023): 1-7.

Faculty: Mary Rowe
"How Do Employer Practices Affect Economic Mobility?"

Kelly, Erin L., Hazhir Rahmandad, Nathan Wilmers, and Aishwara Yadama. ILR Review Vol. 76, No. 5 (2023): 792-832.

Faculty: Erin Kelly Hazhir Rahmandad Nathan Wilmers
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