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In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many in U.S. found themselves suddenly working from home and, with the closing of schools and childcare centers, working from home coupled with a change in family life.
Assistant Professor of Sociology Wen Fan has launched a research project, funded by the National Science Foundation, that will examine the experience of remote work from a variety of methodological angles as well as the potential sustainability of the work-from-home model post-COVID.
Assistant Professor of Sociology Wen Fan (Lee Pellegrini)
鈥淭he pandemic resulted in a sea change in working conditions and family lives, effectively introducing a large-scale social experiment,鈥� explained Fan, the principal investigator for the 鈥淩APID: Remote Work in the Time of COVID-19鈥� project.
鈥淲e鈥檙e interested in learning how a social disruption in combination with communication technologies may act as a catalyst for profound transformations in mindsets and social change, specifically regarding future work flexibility,鈥� said Fan, who is collaborating on the project with Phyllis Moen, the McKnight Endowed Presidential Chair in Sociology at the University of Minnesota.
Fan鈥檚 research project is supported by a $200,000 NSF RAPID grant, awards that are made as part of the agency鈥檚 Rapid Response Research program which allows social scientists to quickly collect data during a crisis.
The project will rely on quantitative and qualitative data to advance science and inform policy development around three objectives:
--understand how remote work is being experienced on a personal level, including disparities by gender, age/life-course stage, socioeconomic status, and race/ethnicity;
--examine how remote work may affect other aspects of life, such as work-family conflict, stress, and quality of life in general;
-- determine, now that remote work is reality and not theory, what remote workers鈥� preferences are.
The researchers will submit an online survey to a nationally representative sample of 2,000 remote workers, and will collect qualitative data from 500 remote workers who will complete open-ended questions regarding their experiences.
A third source of data will come from culled tweets about remote work offered during the pandemic.
Fan said that she hopes the research findings can be used on a federal, state, or organizational level to inform policy on remote work. 鈥淭he goal is to provide choices and flexibility and resources for workers.鈥�
Kathleen Sullivan | University Communications | August 2020