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Work and Organizations

The work and organizations area explores how work is structured, how it changes, and how it is experienced in society. Work is a fundamental social domain in all societies; it is how humans transform their environments to meet their needs. However, the collective goals and needs, the organization of work, and the conditions and compensation of work are socially determined. In contemporary societies, work occurs in a variety of settings — but most commonly in formal organizations. Understanding work in contemporary societies often requires a critical analysis of the organizations in which work commonly occurs.

Faculty in this area study a broad range of topics including:

  1. Inequalities in wages and compensation
  2. Employment relations (nonstandard employment, work schedules)
  3. Access to and behavior in leadership positions
  4. Hiring practices and employment discrimination
  5. Organizational responses to legal mandates and environments

Faculty who study work and organizations often uncover phenomena that are relevant for other specialty areas, including family, gender, education, and social inequality.

Students have many opportunities to work with faculty in this area and are expected to develop a broad understanding of the theory and research in this subfield.

Faculty

Joshua Doyle, Elizabeth Hoffmann, Trent Mize, Linda Renzuli, Jeremy Reynolds and Kevin Stainback