Recent years have seen a large increase in the availability of rigorous impact evaluations that could inform policy decisions. However, it is not enough for evidence to exist: It must also be seen as relevant and correctly interpreted. In this talk, Univerity of Toronto economist Eva Vivalt will share new research (with Aidan Coville and Sampada KC) drawing on experiments conducted with policymakers, practitioners, and researchers at World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank workshops. They explored how each of these three groups respond to and weigh evidence when it is presented to them ..read more

Aiming to spur greater connections between the life and social sciences, Science magazine and NOMIS look to recognize young researchers through the NOMIS and Science Young Explorers Award. This award honors early-career M.D., Ph.D., or M.D./Ph.D. scientists making strides at the intersection of the life and social sciences, using elements of one to inform the other. Past winners include Michael A. Skinnider, whose work centers around using artificial intelligence to identify emerging designer drugs through training on existing chemical structures and data augmentation. Other winners include Bi ..read more

In this article, Ann Langley, Rikkie Albertsen, Shahzad (Shaz) Ansari, Katrin Heucher, Marc Krautzberger, Pauline Reinecke, Natalie Slawinski, and Eero Vaara reflect on the inspiration behind their research article, “Strategizing Together for a Better World: Institutional, Paradox and Practice Theories in Conversation,” found in the Journal of Management Inquiry. Bridging across theory silos is necessary to be able to strategize together for a better world. While management scholars have been shifting their research towards societal challenges, there is a need to continue to provide new insigh ..read more

Ayo Sekai founded Universal Write Publications in 2004, with the first products being her own novels, written while she was an undergrad at Florida International University. Later she revived her imprint with some math workbooks produced for a Florida school district during her master’s studies at the University of South Florida. But a meeting with Molefi Kete Asante, the chair of the Department of Africology and African American Studies at Temple University and a highly prolific author, opened a new door – and even a new name – for Sekai and UWP. In 2021, SAGE, the parent of Social Science Sp ..read more

This discussion on the importance of research impact with Tamika Heiden and Melinda Mills aims to demystify the various pathways through which academic research – with a focus on social science – can influence and contribute to society, whether through public and stakeholder engagement or evidence-based policymaking. The event will be held in-person only at Sage’s London office; there will be no online access. Research impact extends far beyond traditional academic metrics. We’ll delve into public engagement, showcasing how research can directly affect public knowledge, awareness, and even beh ..read more

In this article, Amit Kramer, Kwon Hee Han, Yun Kyoung Kim, and Yun Kyoung Kim reflect on the hypotheses and observations that led to their article, “Inefficiencies and bias in first job placement: the case of professional Asian nationals in the United States,” found in the Journal of Industrial Relations. Their reflection can be found below the paper’s abstract. We study whether the quality of the first job is lower for professional Asian nationals than for non-Asian nationals in the USA. With over a million professionals from Asia entering the US labor market in the past deca ..read more

It is often remarked that Spanish should be more widely spoken or understood in the scientific community given its number of speakers around the world, a figure the Instituto Cervantes places at almost 600 million. However, millions of speakers do not necessarily grant a language strength in academia. This has to be cultivated on a scientific, political and cultural level, with sustained efforts from many institutions and specialists. The scientific community should communicate in as many languages as possible By some estimates, as much as 98 percent of the world’s scientific research is publi ..read more

Bernice Pescosolido, a distinguished professor of sociology at Indiana University, will deliver the annual Matilda White Riley Behavioral and Social Sciences Honors distinguished lecture for the National Institutes of Health’s Officer of Behavioral and Social Science Research. Four early-stage investigators will also deliver lectures on their work. Bernice Pescosolido Pescosolido, a medical sociologist, is the founding director of the Indiana Consortium for Mental Health Services Research and of the Irsay Family Research Institute, which targets research in the sociomedical sciences. Her resea ..read more

Here’s a thought experiment: You want to spend a reasonably large sum of money providing assistance to a group of people with limited means. There’s a lot of ways you might do that with a lot of strings and safeguards involved, but what about just giving them money — “get cash directly into the hands of the poor in the cheapest, most efficient way possible.” Economist Tavneet Suri has done more than just think about that; her fieldwork includes handing out money across villages in two rural areas in Kenya to see what happens. Her experiments include giving out a lump sum of cash and also spre ..read more

Aurélie Ouss will deliver the 2024 Mark Kleiman Innovation for Public Policy Memorial Lecture at the National Academy of Sciences Building. This lecture memorializes the late Mark Kleiman — a policy analyst, teacher, and long-time member of the National Academy’s Committee on Law and Justice — by awarding an early career scholars who has innovative ideas for public policy.  Ouss is an assistant professor in the Department of Criminology at the University of Pennsylvania. Her scholarship aims to make the criminal justice system fairer and more efficient. She primarily does empirical resea ..read more