Description

Summary:
The Equity in Graduate Education Resource Center and USC Pullias Center for Higher Education  are home to transformational research and partnerships on graduate education and faculty careers. We are excited to announce our search for a 1.0 FTE postdoctoral associate to lead research on organizational efforts to advance equity, diversity, and inclusion in STEMM. 

We operate via research-practice partnerships, and this position contributes to the Inclusive Graduate Education Network, an NSF-funded alliance and distributed national network of disciplinary societies and scholars. Our aims are to improve the selection and education of graduate and postdoctoral scholars, especially from historically excluded and underserved backgrounds. To that end, the successful candidate for this position will conduct research and support the 
coordination of activities for IGEN’s Research Hub.

Addressing dynamics of race and racism in organizations is central to our work, and we are committed to embodying the sort of inclusive scholarly and professional community that we want to see throughout higher education. Therefore, we seek a colleague whose record shows a clear pattern of commitment to engagement with racially minoritized and other marginalized communities. Strong writing, organizational, and communication skills are essential, as is experience leading qualitative research.

Research for which this position is created uses qualitative methods and organizational and sociological theory; applicants should have an emerging record of work in this area, although the candidate’s training may be education, science and technology studies, sociology, or other related fields. The postdoctoral associate will work directly with and receive mentoring from Dr. Julie Posselt, Principal Investigator. They will collect and analyze data, and will write a combination of peer reviewed research and translational manuscripts that make the findings meaningful and accessible to practitioners. If leadership development is of interest, they will have the opportunity to serve on the central IGEN management team and/or steering committee. We offer a supportive, healthy work environment that is committed to the wellbeing of all our team members. 

Responsibilities:

• Provide support to the project’s research, communications, and management activities.
• Collaboratively design and revise instruments and materials such as consent forms.
• Assist in building and maintaining study data set; recruit sample participants; Collect and analyze individual interview, focus group, observational, and/or 
  archival/documentary data; maintain ongoing data management systems 
• Coordinate investigators and administrators across the IGEN alliance to ensure effective communication and project management, including scheduling, deliverables, and timeline tracking.
• Support project investigators in translation of research findings into materials useful for academic and practitioner audiences (e.g., write and edit reports, briefs, research papers, workshop curricula, and other materials).
• Represent the Equity in Graduate Education Resource Center in meetings with stakeholders, project partners, and other relevant groups; serve as a resource to the community.
• Work as a team member to ensure efficient, effective, upbeat operations of the project.
• Work cross-functionally with members of the IGEN management team to coordinate project activities, evaluations, reporting, and advisory board meetings.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

Education: Doctorate in education, science and technology studies, public policy, sociology, psychology, or a related field. A doctorate is required at the time of hire.

Experience: Three years of experience in managing complex research projects or overseeing project implementation. Experience conducting higher education research, especially on educational inequalities and interventions.

Communication Skills: Excellent interpersonal, presentation, written communication skills. Strong editing skills.

Organizational and Other Skills: Strong written and oral communication skills; excellent project management skills, with attention to detail and accuracy. Ability to prioritize work effectively and adjust to multiple and competing demands. Experience in creating and keeping to project timelines while considering project goals, reporting requirements, and multiple details.

General: Highly motivated, with the ability to work independently, take initiative, exercise discretion, maintain confidentiality, demonstrate sound judgment, participate as an effective team member, tolerate ambiguity, demonstrate cooperative behavior with coworkers and supervisors, and follow through tasks to completion. Ability to multitask and work with diverse external constituencies.
 
To apply:
Please provide a pdf containing 1.) a current CV, 2.) a cover letter outlining your qualifications and interest in this position, 3.) a research-based writing sample, and 4.) names & contact information for three references. These individuals should be able to speak to your research and administrative 
skills.

This position is a temporary, fixed-term, one-year position with the potential for reappointment. The annual base salary range for this position is $64,480 -$66,980. When extending an offer of employment, the University of Southern California considers factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate’s work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, federal, state and local laws, contractual stipulations, grant funding, as well as external market and organizational considerations.

Please send application dossiers and queries to Project Manager Yasmin Kadir, equity@usc.edu.