Our team brings together individuals who apply diverse methodologies to address critical issues of employment, the quality of work, household and community-level economic conditions, strains in the work-home interface, and health. We strive to translate our discoveries in ways that inform the public, employers and organizational leaders, and policymakers to improve quality of life for all workers.
Faculty Researchers and Affiliates:
Scott Schieman
Dr. Scott Schieman is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto (St. George campus). He holds a Canada Research Chair in the Social Contexts of Health. He is the lead investigator for the American and Canadian Quality of Work and Economic Life Studies; the Canadian Work, Stress, and Health Study; and the U.S. Work, Stress, and Health Study.
Alex Bierman
Dr. Alex Bierman is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Calgary. He is the wizard of all things statistical. Dr. Bierman has an extensive background in the analysis of longitudinal surveys, has repeatedly taught classes in social statistics from the introductory to doctoral levels, and frequently serves as a resource for other members of the C-QWELS and CAN-WSH teams.
Paul Glavin
Dr. Paul Glavin is Associate Professor of Sociology at McMaster University. His research examines emerging challenges to the employment and health of Canadian workers, with a focus on Canadians’ experiences in self-employment and alternative work arrangements.
Quan D. Mai
Dr. Quan D. Mai is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Rutgers University. His research interests focus on social inequality in the labor markets, nonstandard employment, race, and research methods. He is particularly interested in how the experience of nonstandard employment shapes various aspects of workers’ lives, including their well-being and labor market prospects.
Atsushi Narisada
Dr. Atsushi Narisada is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Saint Mary’s University, His current research examines the antecedents and consequences of justice perceptions in the workplace. His recent work on this subject has appeared in Social Psychology Quarterly, Work and Occupations, and Social Justice Research.
Laura Upenieks
Dr. Laura Upenieks is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Baylor University. Her research focuses on religion and health, aging and the life course, and quantitative methods. One interest seeks to integrate life course models of health and social network analysis to understand how life course inequalities shape health during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Melissa Milkie
Dr. Melissa Milkie is Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto and Chair of the Graduate Department. Her research focuses on structural and cultural changes in gender, work and family life over recent decades and how work-family configurations are linked to health and well-being. Recently she was named as one of the top-cited work-family researchers in the world by the Work-Family Researchers Network.
Sharla Alegria
Dr. Sharla Alegria is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto. Her research agenda includes efforts to (1) understand how inequalities persist when individuals and institutions reject discrimination and (2) understand the equity related consequences of the shift toward flexible workplace practices, especially in knowledge-based, globally interconnected work.
Cary Wu
Dr. Cary Wu is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at York University. His research focuses on: (1) how value orientations such as social and political trust are formed, and (2) how these values explain structural inequality based on gender and race/ethnicity. He has received funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to study how political institutions and social norms shape COVID-19 response and how the pandemic exacerbates existing health inequalities.
Marisa Young
Dr. Marisa Young is an Associate Professor of Sociology at McMaster University. Her areas of are in work, family, stress, and health, and advanced quantitative methods. Dr. Young is an Early Career Fellow at the Work-Family Research Network and the recipient of the 2017 Early Researcher Award from the Ontario Ministry of Innovation, Science and Economic Development.
Sarah Reid
Dr. Sarah Reid leads Doblin Canada, Deloitte’s design-led innovation practice. She works with Canadian family businesses, large corporates, and governments to tackle issues of digital disruption, workplace equity, affordable housing, and climate change with innovation and service design. Prior to Deloitte, Sarah helped establish Canada’s first regulatory ‘nudge unit’ at the Ontario Securities Commission.
Leah Ruppanner
Dr. Leah Ruppanner is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Co-Director of The Policy Lab at the University of Melbourne. She is an expert in family, gender, public policy, cross-national research, and quantitative methods. Her book, Motherlands: How States Push Mothers out of Employment seeks to understand how U.S. states vary in their childcare policies, gender empowerment and maternal employment.
Philip J. Badawy
Philip J. Badawy is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Alberta. His research is focused on the intersection of work and family life and the implications of these dynamics for workers’ stress and health, with a specific focus on how these processes change over time.
Walter Muiruri
Walter Muiruri completed his Master of Arts in Economics at the University of Toronto, St. George Campus. He is currently working as an Economist that is passionate about work involving socioeconomic policy.
Students:
Daniel Hill
Daniel Hill is a PhD student at the University of Toronto in the department of Sociology. His primary research interests are based in Social Psychology and Occupational Mobility. Specifically, he is interested in the decision-making processes that workers engage in as they determine their occupational aspirations and desired status attainment.
Michael Bator
Michael Bator is a graduate student in sociology at the University of Toronto. His research interests focus on the social determinants and consequences of perceived status inequality. This includes consideration of both political ideology and affiliations. He is interested in exploring the links between these dynamics and psychosocial and health-related outcomes.
Alexander Wilson
Alexander Wilson is a graduate student in sociology at the University of Toronto. His research interests focus on the impact of role disruption on stress, trust, and other psychosocial outcomes. His research emphasizes the relationship between the factors that cause institutional change and the factors that improve the capacity of workers to respond to this change.
Ryu Won Kang
Ryu Won Kang is an undergraduate student studying biochemistry and immunology at the University of Toronto, and currently serves as editor-in-chief of the North American Model United Nations and the University of Toronto International Health Program publications.
Bruce Liang
Jiarui (Bruce) Liang is an undergraduate student completing a double major in Sociology and Psychology. Bruce also hopes to pursue graduate study in an area that combines elements from both fields.
Mandy Tse
Mandy Tse is an undergraduate student pursuing a double major in psychology and population health studies with a minor in media studies at the University of Toronto Scarborough campus. Additionally, she is interested in mental health advocacy. .
