Metcalf Summer 2023 Research Assistant, Occupational Inequality - Durlauf, Kim, & Song
This internship is part of the University’s Jeff Metcalf Internship Program. Please review to learn more about benefits and program requirements for Metcalf interns.
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About Your Organization
The James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Center for Research on Wealth Inequality and Mobility at the Harris School of Public Policy advances groundbreaking, interdisciplinary research on the origins and nature of contemporary inequalities. Led by economists Steven Durlauf and Damon Jones of the Harris School of Public Policy, and sociologist Geoffrey Wodtke of the Department of Sociology, the Stone Center unifies perspectives on inequality by serving as a hub for collaboration, discussion, and debate for researchers across disciplines. By bringing together an interdisciplinary community of scholars to exchange and develop research, integrate approaches, and confront empirical challenges, the Stone Center generates the rigorous research necessary to guide effective policy solutions to ameliorate socioeconomic inequality, promote mobility, and improve lives.
Job Title and Work Location
Research Assistant (Hybrid Work)
Job Duties and Responsibilities
Steven Durlauf, Director of the Stone Center, with Gueyon Kim (Economics, UC Santa Cruz) and Xi Song (Sociology, University of Pennsylvania) seek a Research Assistant (RA) to support an ongoing projects on the evolution of Black/White differences in occupations. The work is employing data from 1850 to 2010 to understand how occupational inequality has changed from slavery to the modern era. One important dimension involves measurement of the changes in the intergenerational mobility process linking parent and children as the United States has moved across regimes; slavery, reconstruction, Jim Crow, the Civil Rights era, and the modern economy. One dimension of the RA work will involve assisting in characterizing the structural changes in occupations associated with these eras. A second dimension involves the development of new mathematical tools to quantify the mechanisms underlying the evolution of occupations, with an emphasis on Black/White differences.
Requirements
- Familiarity with or high interest in research on inequality dynamics.
- Background in the quantitative social sciences (e.g., economics, sociology, public policy, etc.).
- Experience in or willingness to learn STATA
Required Materials
Applicants will submit the following required documents:
- Curriculum Vitae, clearly stating relevant research experience, academic background, and programming skills. (Note: This can be submitted through the Handshake posting as a "Resume.")
- Unofficial transcript(s), listing coursework in the quantitative social sciences or other relevant areas.
- Concise research statement (1-2 paragraph), addressing your research interests and motivation behind joining the project.
Class Year Eligibility
First, second and/or third year students are eligible to apply.