Skip to page content

Workers and the Workplace

Featured

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.

Multimedia
Teachers’ Responses to Curriculum Restrictions
RAND policy researcher Ashley Woo presents findings from a study that examined teachers' responses to limitations on race- and gender-related topics in the classroom.
Apr 22, 2023
Commentary
The Army Should Be Looking for a Few Older Soldiers
Recruiting older people to enlist in the Army could help increase numbers, quality, and talent. Individuals who enlist over the age of 21 perform better as soldiers on several metrics. Recruiters have noted that older recruits are of higher quality, more focused, and more motivated.
Apr 7, 2023

Topics in Focus:

Explore Workers and the Workplace

Report
Criminal History Record Information Sharing with the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency: Education and Training Materials for State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Partners
This report presents materials to facilitate more effective and efficient criminal history record information sharing with the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, which performs federal background investigations.
Sep 7, 2022
Research Brief
Helping Caregivers Thrive? An Evaluation of a Direct Care Worker Retention Program
The 12-month program, Transformational Healthcare Readiness through Innovative Vocational Education, took a multipronged approach to addressing employment barriers for entry-level health care workers across three health systems from 2019 to 2021.
Sep 6, 2022
Tool
Addressing Disparities in the U.S. Military
Racial, ethnic, and gender disparities in military career success and representation are a long-standing problem. To help inform efforts to address this, researchers created the Military Demographic Equity Machine tool.
Sep 6, 2022
Report
An Evaluation of a Multisite, Health Systems–Based Direct Care Worker Retention Program: Key Findings and Recommendations
A mixed-methods evaluation of a program to help stem the loss of newly hired entry-level caregivers found no positive effect on retention or financial sustainability.
Sep 6, 2022
Blog
Back to School, Vaccinating Kids, Space Security: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on the well-being of America's educators, the effort to vaccinate kids and teens, security in outer space, and more.
Sep 2, 2022
Commentary
Removing Barriers to Diversity and Inclusion in the Military
Efforts to improve representation and remove barriers for personnel with protected characteristics are seen as essential steps for modern militaries, but have not gone without controversy. The UK Armed Forces could take a more-strategic approach to leveraging diversity to elevate it as a strategic enabler of military fighting power in the contemporary threat environment.
Aug 29, 2022
Blog
Diversity in the Military, Telemedicine Abortion, China and Taiwan: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on the benefits of increasing and maintaining diversity in the armed forces, the challenges of telemedicine abortion, whether Indo-Pacific countries are backing China or Taiwan, and more.
Aug 26, 2022
Essay
How Educators Are Faring in the COVID Era
Teachers and principals are twice as likely as other workers to experience frequent job-related stress. They report higher rates of depression and burnout, and much lower rates of resilience. What can school districts do to better support them?
Aug 25, 2022
News Release
Fewer FEMA Employees Experienced Workplace Harassment or Discrimination in 2021 than 2019; More Progress Needed
The risk of FEMA employees experiencing harassment or discrimination in 2021 was significantly less than in 2019, but one in five employees still experienced at least one civil rights violation during the preceding year.
Aug 24, 2022
Journal Article
Explaining Heterogeneity in Use of Non-wage Benefits: The Role of Worker and Firm Characteristics in Disability Accommodations
Using administrative data in Oregon, we document significant dispersion in accommodation rates across workers and firms. We decompose the variance in accommodation use, finding that firm characteristics explain 29% of this variance.
Aug 24, 2022
Report
Harassment and Discrimination at FEMA Is Declining, but More Progress Is Needed
About one in five FEMA employees surveyed experienced at least one gender-based/sexual or race/ethnicity–based civil rights violation in the past year. This is an improvement since 2019, but how can FEMA further its efforts to develop and maintain a workplace in which all employees are treated with professionalism and respect?
Aug 24, 2022
Report
Diversity Can Enhance Military Effectiveness
Embracing diversity in the military could bring significant operational and strategic advantages. For example, diversity is important in developing effective, ethical, and trustworthy AI systems. How can the UK and U.S. armed forces remove barriers to inclusion and attract more diverse workforces?
Aug 23, 2022
Report
National Guard Youth ChalleNGe: Program Progress in 2020–2021
The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program serves young people experiencing difficulty in traditional high school. This report documents program trends in 2020–2021 and presents analyses on the Job ChalleNGe program.
Aug 22, 2022
Blog
Homelessness in L.A., Russia's Military Woes, Educator Morale: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on breaking the cycle of incarceration and homelessness, Russia’s ongoing military struggles, NATO expansion, and more.
Aug 19, 2022
Journal Article
Association Among Trust in Health Care Providers, Friends, and Family, and Vaccine Hesitancy
Parents who are hesitant to vaccinate their children trust various types of individuals along different dimensions of trust.
Aug 17, 2022
Dissertation
A Lot on their Shoulders: Predictive Modelling Approaches for Addressing Shrinking Working Populations in Select Countries
Attempts to address the policy problems generated by age dependency problems using predictive analytic methods.
Aug 16, 2022
Journal Article
Review of EPSRC-funded Doctoral Education: A Review of the Literature
This report presents the findings from a literature review on doctoral education in engineering and physical sciences conducted as part of a review of doctoral education currently being conducted by the EPSRC.
Aug 16, 2022
Report
Assessing the Potential for Racial Bias in the Security Clearance Process
In this exploratory report, the authors consider the security clearance process through the lens of racial justice. They identify areas where bias might contribute to the underrepresentation of Black Americans in the national security workforce.
Aug 15, 2022
Blog
Politicized Topics in School, the War in Ukraine, Post-Quantum Cryptography: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on the intrusion of politicized topics in America's schools, where the war in Ukraine may be headed, post-quantum cryptography, and more.
Aug 12, 2022
Report
Improving the Department of the Army's Marketing for Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention of Civilians in Critical Occupations
This report presents the results of analyses intended to help the Army assess and strengthen its ability to attract high-quality applicants to its civilian workforce and to retain high-quality Army civilian employees.
Aug 11, 2022

Previous
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Next

Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Leslie Adrienne Payne

Political Scientist

Leslie Adrienne Payne (she/her) is a political scientist at the RAND Corporation with a combined background in social and political science and qualitative research methods. Since 2012, much of her research has focused on terrorism and counterterrorism, counterinsurgency and civilian-military…
Susan A. Resetar

Senior Operations Researcher

Susan Resetar (she/her) is a senior operations researcher with over 25 years of public policy research at the RAND Corporation, working in the areas of strategic planning, climate and environmental policy, disaster management and recovery, climate change risks to critical infrastructure and…

Explore Our People »