Postdoctoral Scholar

POSTDOCTORAL SCHOLAR
School of Labor and Employment Relations
Chicago Labor Education Program
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The School of Labor and Employment Relations at The University of Illinois invites applications for the position of Post-Doctoral Scholar with the Project for Middle Class Renewal in our Chicago office.  This is a 12 or 24-month position that begins sometime in Spring, 2023. The Project for Middle Class Renewal (PMCR) was established in the fall of 2015 with the goal of promoting policy analysis, scholarly research and scholar-practitioner exchanges on employment related issues. The Project’s focus is broadly on job quality, employment policy, the labor market, precarious work, industries, labor unions and collective bargaining. The Post-Doctoral Scholar will contribute to PMCR’s ongoing research to advance innovative ways to measure employment quality and the labor and employment trends impacting middle and working-class families and workers.

SPECIFIC DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• ​Conduct high quality research on work and employment quality, industries and occupations, labor market institutions, and employment policies affecting all workers. Contribute to research reports to inform policymakers, practitioners and the public. Present research findings with PMCR team at national and regional conferences Provide training and education for the Labor Education Program staff from the research.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:  Candidates should possess a Ph.D. in a relevant discipline, such as labor and employment relations, labor economics, work sociology or social work, industrial-organization psychology, or geography/urban studies They should have a record of conducting and publishing research aligned with the PMCR’s interests. Applicants should have the demonstrated capacity to design, collect, clean, and analyze large observational, primary, and secondary datasets, such as the US Current Population Survey (CPS) with statistical software. Ability to interpret and project trends affecting workers, employment relations, the labor market, employment related policies, labor unions, and role of collective bargaining. Candidates should have well-developed quantitative or mixed methods research skills.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:  Knowledge of labor unions, collective bargaining processes, labor markets, economic trends, public policies and the future of work. Strong interest in measuring job quality, including its determinants, disparities among jobs and workers and developing indexes. Experience using STATA regression tools, Qualtrics surveys, Excel, and qualitative text mining, such as DiscoverText, and conducting impact analysis using IMPLAN.

SALARY AND APPOINTMENT INFORMATION: Salary will be commensurate with experience.  Position is 100% time in our Chicago office for a period of 12 or 24 months.   To find out more about the benefits and resources available at the university and Urbana-Champaign community, please visit Benefits

PROPOSED STARTING DATE: Proposed starting date is early Spring, 2023, but potentially flexible.

Application Procedures and Deadline Information:  To apply for this position, please create your candidate profile at https://jobs.illinois.edu/ and upload your cover letter, CV, and the names and contact information for three professional references by January 31.  For more information, contact Professor Robert Bruno, bbruno@illinois.edu or 312-996-2491.  You may also visit http://www.ler.illinois.edu/ for additional information. 

The University of Illinois System is an equal opportunity employer, including but not limited to disability and/or veteran status, and complies with all applicable state and federal employment mandates. Please visit Required Employment Notices and Posters to view our non-discrimination statement and find additional information about required background checks, sexual harassment/misconduct disclosures, COVID-19 vaccination requirement, and employment eligibility review through E-Verify.

Applicants with disabilities are encouraged to apply and may request a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (2008) to complete the application and/or interview process. Requests may be submitted through the reasonable accommodations portal, or by contacting the Accessibility & Accommodations Division of the Office for Access and Equity at 217-333-0885, or by emailing accessibility@illinois.edu.

 The University of Illinois must also comply with applicable federal export control laws and regulations and, as such, reserves the right to employ restricted party screening procedures for applicants.