Lena Wang receiving the award from Prof Frederik Anseel  (Photo: Lena Wang)

Held every two years the EAWOP conference is the largest Europe-based conference for organisational psychologists. This year’s conference, in Turin, attracted around 2000 attendees from across the globe.

The paper, titled ‘Effects of prolonged job insecurity on Big Five personality change’, drew on the large nationally representative Australian HILDA dataset to understand how being exposed to job insecurity for a long period of time changes one’s personality.  Using matched data over nine years from over 1000 employees in Australia, the research identified that prolonged job insecurity leads to increased neuroticism, decreased conscientiousness and decreased agreeableness for employees.

Louise Byrne receives her award from by the Hon Greg Hunt MP, Federal Minister for Health. (Source: RMIT News)

Dr Louise Byrne was awarded the MHS Learning Network of Australia and New Zealand (TheMHS) 2019 Early Career Research Award at the recent TheMS Awards event. TheMS Awards recognise best practice, excellence and innovation in mental health service delivery, honouring individuals who have made an exceptional contribution to mental health across Australia and New Zealand. Louise’s research focuses on the workforce development needs of designated lived experience/peer roles in mental health services delivery. Lived experience roles are key to best practice in mental health service delivery but they are generally poorly understood and under-supported. Louise’s research explores the factors that support effective employment of peer roles in multi-disciplinary mental health service environments.

A number of CPOW and School of Management scholars participated in the 6th Regulating for Decent Work (RDW) conference held at the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) office in Geneva. In his opening address to the conference the ILO’s Damien Grimshaw noted the importance of the work of RDW network scholars, pointing out that the ILO looks to the RDW network for innovative solutions and policies for the future of work and decent work. For example, RDW network scholars’ work contributed to the development of the ILO’s recent report of the Global Commission on the Future of Work.

RMIT delegates to the conference included Sara Charlesworth, Ngan Collins, Annie Delaney, Peter Hayes, Sandra Jones, Fiona Macdonald, Jacinta Ryan and Darryn Snell. In her presentation, HDR student Lisa Heap drew on her experience as an advisor to the Australian Workers’ delegation to the recent International Labour Conference (ILC) held in June 2019. This Centenary ILC  adopted  a new international convention and recommendation to combat violence and harassment in the world of work. Lisa’s presentation reflected on how the new international standard responds to current deficiencies in frameworks for addressing gender-based violence at work in the Australian context.

This year’s ISPIM's (International Society for Professional Innovation Management) annual innovation conference took place in Florence. The conference theme was 'Celebrating Innovation: 500 Years since Da Vinci' and it attracted around 550 innovation professionals from academia, industry and the public sector from around 50 countries worldwide.  

Professor Adela McMurray delivered a refereed research paper: 'The Relationship between Locus of Control and Workplace Innovation' (McMurray, A. and Simmers, C. (2019))

Three CPOW researchers, Sara Charlesworth, Fiona Macdonald and Wendy Taylor, presented papers at the 2nd Global Carework Summit held in Toronto in June. The Global Carework Summit, recently established by leading carework academics in the USA, is now an expanding global network and around 200 scholars from around the world attended the 2019 conference.

A paper by Sara and Wendy titled ‘Homecare Work in the Antipodes: Time Autonomy and Enough Time to Care’ was presented in a panel session with Prof. Donna Baines (Toronto) and Prof. Tamara Daly (York) on emerging findings from the Decent Work/Good Care project led by Sara. Fiona presented a paper ‘Emerging Risks in Paid Carework: Individualisation, Insecurity and the Gig Economy’ Sara chaired a conference panel session on Coalitions in Carework highlighted the challenges to collective action for protecting and advancing care workers’ rights in the context of underfunded and marketised care.

The Panel of academics and activists included Australian unionist, Melissa Coad from United Voice, Prof. Cynthia Cranford (University of Toronto) and Prof. Louise Boivin (University of Quebec).  Prof. Boivin is a member of the CRIMT  international partnership of which CPOW is a key partner, and she is working with Sara and Fiona to develop further collaborations around individualised care work in the community and home.

Fiona Macdonald (left) and Sara Charlesworth at the Global Carework Summit.

An opinion piece titled ‘Why Andrea Dworkin’s radical feminism is more relevant than ever’ by Dr Meagan Tyler has been published on the ABC online. Dr Lauren Gurreri, Dr Jenna  Drenten and Dr Meagan Tyler have published an article on the Conversation titled ‘How highly sexualised imagery is shaping ‘influence’ on Instagram - and harassment is rife'.

A journal article written in collaboration with colleagues Sharon Parker from Curtin University and Jenny Liao from the University of Western Australia, - 'When is proactivity wise? A review of factors that influence the individual outcomes of proactive behavior' published earlier this year in the Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior has recently been featured on the Australian Human Resource Institute’s HRM Magazine website .

Another article by Lena and others 'Developing goal orientations conducive to learning and performance: An intervention study' published in the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology in 2018 has been featured recently in a podcast by The Coaching Academic (Episode 20).

The ILO has released a country report prepared by CPOW and RMIT researchers and others outlining developments in Australia’s climate and skills policy, as well as in the economy and employment in the period since the last ILO country report in 2009. The ILO study was prepared by Huon Curtis, Nigel Douglas, Peter Fairbrother, Kate Grosser, Val Prokopiv, Michael Rafferty, and Philip Toner

Tuesday 8th October:

'Putting New Zealand’s 2017 Care and Support Workers Pay Equity Act into Practice' -
Research findings & Reflections on issues for Australia

8th October 2019 (Tuesday), 12-2pm (light lunch provided)

To register, please RSVP to: [email protected]

This CPOW Public Symposium features a presentation by Dr Julie Douglas (pictured, left) and Associate Professor Katherine Ravenswood (pictured - right), both Employment Relations scholars at Auckland University of Technology on the findings of research, undertaken to identify the impacts of the New Zealand Care and Support Workers (Pay Equity Act) 2017 settlement on workers and managers in residential aged care, home support and disability support sectors. 

The legislation was unprecedented in providing for additional funding to cover newly prescribed hourly wages linked to qualifications and guaranteeing training opportunities for care and support workers. The presentation will highlight  the significant positive impacts of gender-equal pay on women’s lives as well as some challenges and unanticipated outcomes of the legislation in its implementation in workplaces. A short panel discussion will follow with reflections on lessons and issues for Australia from industry speakers Linda White, Assistant National Secretary of the Australian Services Union and a representative from the Victorian Council of Social Services (VCOSS).

Wednesday 9th October:

Joint CPOW / School of Management lunchtime seminar:

'I walk the line'. Building an industry engaged research programme. 

9th October 2019 (Wednesday), 12:30-1:30pm (light lunch provided)

To register, please RSVP to: [email protected]

In this seminar and Associate Professor Katherine Ravenswood reflect on the benefits and challenges, and ethical issues, of researching for and with multiple stakeholders – including where stakeholders hold opposing positions. 

Jeremy Moon is Professor of Sustainability Governance and Director of CBS Sustainability Centre, Copenhagen Business School. Previous appointment includes: Founding Director & Professor of the International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility, University of Nottingham, and Gourlay Chair in Business Ethics, Trinity College, University of Melbourne.

He won the 2018 Academy of Management Review (AMR) Paper of the Decade Award for D. Matten and J. Moon (2008) ‘Implicit and Explicit CSR’ AMR. He is the author of the Very Short Introduction to CSR Oxford University Press (2014).

For details and registration, please RSVP to: [email protected]

Peter Fairbrother has received $120,000 in research funding for a Regional Jobs, Work and Employment work program, focusing on the connections between skills and employment in regional economies in an environment of changing work. This new project involves Professor Chris Warhurst (Director, Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick), Dr Phillip Toner (Phillip Toner Consultancy) and Dr Ruth Barton (University of Tasmania/CPOW), Dr Alicia Boyle (Charles Darwin University), Dr Caitlin Vincent (University of Melbourne) and from CPOW/RMIT Dr Marcus Banks, Ms Karen Douglas, Mr Todd Denham, Professor Ashton De Silva, Ms Val Prokopiv and Professor Mike Rafferty. The funding is for a new stage of research in the Gippsland region by the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) extending research undertaken in 2018 and included in the Future Jobs and Regional Workforce Development report, published by the RAI 

Olga leads a special interest group on academia - industry collaboration within the International Society for Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM). Her research is related to: strategic management of design, open & radical innovation and future of work in the digital age. She is particularly interested in interdisciplinary organisations set to explore grand challenges in areas such as curing cancer, climate change, energy transition.

In addition to his academic roles James has performed research consultancies for a range of agencies including the New York Social Science Research Council, the World Bank and most recently, for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. His latest publication, ‘Conflict, Identity and State Formation in East Timor 2000-2017’ with Brill, Leiden, came out in May this year.

The theme for the 2020 AIRAANZ (Association of Industrial Relations Academics of Australia and New Zealand) conference is 'Doing things differently? IR practice and research beyond 2020'. Submissions of full papers closes on 30 August and abstract submissions for other presentations are due by 27 September. See here for more information.

The conference will have a number of dedicated streams and a forum for postgraduate research students See here for stream information. Early bird registrations are open now.

The Gender, Work & Organization conference provides an international forum for debate and analysis of contemporary debates affecting gender studies. See the conference website for stream information. The deadline for submission of abstracts is Friday 1st November 2019. For general enquiries about the streams and conference please contact Patricia Lewis on [email protected].

The Relations industrielles/Industrial Relations (RI/IR) Journal invites submissions for a special issue on digitization and the regulation of work and employment. This special issue seeks to understand how digitization may be disrupting and reordering the regulation of work and employment. We are interested in proposals that contribute to our understanding of the social and economic impacts of digitization at various levels (workplace, firms, sector, regional, national and international), and how they lead to organizational and institutional experimentation. See the full call for papers here.

Guest editors: Christian Lévesque, HEC Montréal ([email protected]), Peter Fairbrother, RMIT University ([email protected]), and Nicolas R.

Deadlines: the receipt of full papers and the decision to submit them to the peer review process: October 31, 2019; the response to authors after the review process: January 30th, 2020; the production of a revised version: June 15th, 2020; publication of the special issue: September/October, 2020.

To join, please send this information to:  [email protected] 

HASH is supported by the Social Change and Design & Creative Practice ECPs. 

If you would like to join CPOW or include your research activities in forthcoming newsletters, please email these to: [email protected]

CPOW acknowledges that economic and social divisions are defining features of the world we live in. The Centre’s research focuses on addressing economic inequalities and fragmentation, social questions around gender, sexuality, ethnicity, age and locality, to enhance working lives and advance positive social change. Find out more at: CPOW

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business.