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Workers and the Workplace

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Demand for educated, versatile workers who can interpret complex information and adapt to innovation is higher than ever. RAND pursues research that helps people, organizations, and governments understand how workers can remain engaged and productive in a changing global economy. Studies address workforce development, gender equity in the workplace, working conditions, and workplace wellness programs.

Report
What Teachers Think of State Policies Limiting Their Instruction
The restrictions placed on how teachers can address race- or gender-related topics in the classroom may be leading to consequences for teachers' working conditions and for student learning. Teachers report that the limitations make it more difficult to engage students in learning, to support critical thinking skills, and to build empathy.
Jan 25, 2023
Report
Pittsburgh's Science- and Technology-Focused Workforce
About 18 percent of Pittsburgh's employment is in science- and technology-focused occupations, and the growth rate suggests the need for more workers in the future. What investments and policy changes could safeguard the region's strengths and support it as a flourishing science and technology hub?
Jan 9, 2023

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Report
How Do Education Benefits Support Veterans’ Transitions to Civilian Life?
Today’s new veterans have access to generous and flexible education benefits through the Post-9/11 GI Bill. But it is difficult to determine the effectiveness of these benefits and who is using them. Additional research could help address these gaps and improve understanding of veterans’ needs.
Jan 10, 2022
Journal Article
Enhancing Early Engagement (E3) in Mental Health Services Training for Children's Advocacy Center's Victim Advocates: Feasibility Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial
This feasibility study protocol describes our plans to develop, implement, and evaluate web-based and consultative training for Children's Advocacy Center Victim Advocates to enhance early engagement in evidence-based youth mental health services.
Jan 7, 2022
Research Brief
A More Accurate Way to Predict Recidivism Risk in Background Checks
Roughly 30 percent of people in the United States have criminal histories, so exclusions resulting from background checks can foreclose job and other opportunities for many. But what if it were possible to show that some people pose a low risk of recidivism?
Jan 6, 2022
Report
Providing Another Chance: Resetting Recidivism Risk in Criminal Background Checks
The authors propose the reset principle that anchors assessments of recidivism risk at the time of a background check rather than the time of conviction, as current methods derived from the criminal justice context do.
Jan 6, 2022
Report
Proceedings of the U.S.-Japan Socioeconomic Policy Research Exchange: The Rise of Telework Under COVID-19 and the Growth of Cryptocurrency
This volume captures insights from two conferences that brought together leading U.S. and Japanese experts to explore the implications of recent growth in teleworking, working from home, cryptocurrency, and blockchain in the United States and Japan.
Jan 5, 2022
Report
Establishing Feeder-Designation Relationships with Colleges and Universities to Increase Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Air Force Officer Accessions
This Perspective presents conceptual design considerations for implementing a feeder system as an enhanced marketing and outreach program to assist the U.S. Air Force with increasing racial and ethnic diversity in officer accessions.
Dec 30, 2021
Report
How Effective Are Blinding Concepts and Practices to Promote Equity in the Department of the Air Force?
The authors discuss the scholarly literature on the efficacy of blinding strategies, how these insights apply to Department of the Air Force (DAF) goals, and possible steps for the DAF to advance its goal of a more equitable and inclusive workforce.
Dec 30, 2021
Report
COVID-19 in the California Workers' Compensation System: A Study of COVID-19 Claims and Presumptions Under Senate Bill 1159
The authors evaluate the effects of COVID-19 claims on the California workers' compensation system and on the payment of workers' compensation benefits, noting patterns by industry, occupation, and the presumptions established by Senate Bill 1159.
Dec 29, 2021
Tool
Getting to Outcomes® Handbook for U.S. Air and Space Force Community Action Planning
Getting To Outcomes helps Air and Space Force Community Action Teams develop a Community Action Plan. The Handbook includes guidance and tools. The Resource Guide provides links and tips. The Workbook contains blank versions of the tools.
Dec 28, 2021
News Release
Opioid Prescribing Declines, but Cuts Are Not Uniform Across Locations, Age Groups, or Type of Prescriber
The volume of prescription opioids dispensed from retail pharmacies declined by 21 percent from 2008 to 2018, but the decline was not uniform across geographic areas, among types of patients, or by type of prescriber.
Dec 27, 2021
Blog
RAND Commentary Highlights of 2021
Vaccine rollouts, an attack on the U.S. Capitol, massive ransomware attacks, the withdrawal from Afghanistan, record numbers of job openings and people quitting, and more. RAND researchers weighed in on all these topics and more.
Dec 21, 2021
Report
Keeping the Defense Industrial Base Afloat During COVID-19: A Review of Department of Defense and Federal Government Policies and Investments in the Defense Industrial Base
Concerns about the financial solvency of the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) during the pandemic prompted the U.S. government to make policy changes to support the DIB. The authors summarize investments in the DIB made during the pandemic.
Dec 21, 2021
Journal Article
CPS Nonresponse During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Explanations, Extent, and Effects
This paper examines survey nonresponse in the CPS at the start of the pandemic and estimates to what extent nonresponse led to an underestimate of the unemployment rate.
Dec 21, 2021
Journal Article
A Dynamic Behavioral Model of Korean Saving, Work, and Benefit Claiming Decisions
We develop a model that captures elements of the South Korean National Pension Scheme and behavioral responses in labor supply, savings and benefit claiming to changes in the public pension system using a sample of married couples nearing retirement.
Dec 21, 2021
Report
Goal-Setting to Support Cadet Success: Insights and Recommendations for the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program
The National Guard Youth Challenge Program uses the Post-Residential Action Plan to assist at-risk youth with identifying and achieving life goals. The authors examined various approaches to fostering adolescents' goal-setting success.
Dec 20, 2021
Commentary
Could the Move Toward Collaboration Technologies Change the Very Makeup of Populations?
Collaborative technologies such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams have transformed how we work, visit the doctor, and go to school. But can they also shift demographic trends in migration, fertility, morbidity, and mortality? And if so, how?
Dec 17, 2021
Blog
Gender Pay Gap Among Doctors, America's Labor Shortage, 'Hacking Equity': RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on the pay gap between female and male doctors, understanding America’s weird job market, social and emotional learning, and more.
Dec 17, 2021
Report
Widening the Pathway: Implementation and Impacts of Alternative Teacher Preparation Programs Across Three Contexts
The authors describe implementation of three alternative teacher preparation programs—called Teacher Effectiveness and Certification (TEACh) programs—and their effect on teacher recruitment, teacher retention, and student achievement.
Dec 16, 2021
Report
The global digital skills gap: Current trends and future directions
The overarching aim of the research was to better understand at a macro level whether and why the digital skills gap is widening, its implications for digital and social inequalities, and what various stakeholders are doing in response.
Dec 15, 2021
Commentary
How to Explain This Weird Job Market
It's tempting to see in 2021 a harbinger of some permanent shift in our labor market, but that would be premature. What is clear is that we will never recreate the world of December 2019. The labor market in 2022 and beyond will reflect not only what workers learned from their pandemic experience, but also how employers and policymakers choose to respond.
Dec 14, 2021

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Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Cortney Weinbaum

Senior Management Scientist

Cortney Weinbaum (she/her) is a senior management scientist at the RAND Corporation. She specializes in intelligence and space topics, and she has worked with the Intelligence Community (IC) and Department of Defense to improve policies, practices, and technologies. She has improved analytic and…
Miriam Matthews

Associate Director, Workforce, Development, and Health Program, RAND Project AIR FORCE

Miriam Matthews is the associate director of the Workforce, Development, and Health program within RAND Project AIR FORCE and a senior behavioral and social scientist at the RAND Corporation. She conducts research in the areas of political psychology and diversity and multiculturalism.

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