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SPRING 2013

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NEWS DIGEST When companies cut jobs in favor of using technology to do those jobs, there is a "collective consequence" since it significantly reduces the number of people with disposable income who can help drive the economy. Steven Berkenfeld '81, managing partner with the global financial services provider Barclays, shared this perspective at a March lecture on "What Is the Future of Work." More than 100 ILR and Cornell students, faculty and staff attended the campus event. He talked about the impact technology is having on sustainable long-term jobs and how it is contributing to a serious labor surplus and the elimination of more middleclass jobs. "Advancements in technology are replacing jobs faster than they are being created. Technology and automation are replacing not just manual jobs, but intellectual labor, as well." There is an "urgent need for a national discussion on this topic," said Berkenfeld, who continued the dialogue with policy leaders, scholars and executives at a New York City event in April that was organized by ILR's Institute for Compensation Studies. David Lipsky '61 has been selected for Cornell's top undergraduate teaching award, the Stephen H. Weiss Fellowship. "Boy, it took a long, long time before I thought I could teach and I'm still working on it. It was a good 10 or 15 years before I thought maybe I'm hitting some goals. And I still struggle. You don't ever really master anything." The Anne Evans Estabrook Professor of Dispute Resolution, Lipsky served as ILR's dean from 1988 to 1997. Lisa Yang '74 was honored in February by the Cornell Asian Alumni Association, which recognized her dedication to the university and her "deep involvement in philanthropy." Research published this year by Professors Larry Kahn and Fran Blau '61 shows that women in the United States are more likely to hold managerial or professional jobs than women in other developed countries. Lipsky fondly remembers the encouragement he received as a student from labor economist Robert Aronson, now ILR professor emeritus. "Bob inspired me to study economics in grad school and recommended that I apply to MIT." However, there is a tradeoff — they are less likely to be working than women in 16 other nations, the researchers learned. When today's ILR students are selecting their life's work, Lipsky encourages them to look beyond material reward and toward intrinsic satisfaction. A retired investment banker, she devotes much of her time to mental health and disability advocacy, which includes support of ILR's Employment & Disability Institute. Two of Yang's three children have been diagnosed with autism. Between 1990 and 2010, the United States' rank slipped from six to 17 for women's labor force participation out of 22 nations in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. That change could reflect more advanced work-life policies in other countries, Blau and Kahn conclude in "Female Labor Supply: Why is the U.S. Falling Behind?" In her remarks at the Pan-Asian Banquet in New York City, Yang talked about her involvement with ILR's Global Service Learning program. Students in the program work in India, South Africa and other countries providing job search assistance and other support to people with disabilities. First awarded in 2009, the designation recognizes contributions of "unusual distinction" in the field of industrial and labor relations. The selection committee cited Ehrenberg's groundbreaking work in the 16 After teaching for 46 years, Lipsky says he can't imagine leaving his profession. "It's sort of nice when the work that you're doing becomes more like a hobby than work." Assistant Professor Elena Belogolovsky is researching pay secrecy — one of the most controversial, yet underresearched topics in the management sciences during the past century. Dean Harry Katz said, "Lisa has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment as a voice for those who are both physically and mentally challenged." Ronald G. Ehrenberg, the Irving M. Ives Professor of Industrial and Labor Relations and Economics, joins an elite group of scholars and practitioners who have been named fellows of the Labor and Employment Relations Association. He challenges them to a litmus test: "Do you find this personally satisfying without anyone ever patting you on the head? If you don't, it's not a recipe for happiness." economics of higher education and his ability to apply labor research to higher education administration. In his role as director of the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute, Ehrenberg announced this winter that the institute received a $640,000 research grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The grant continues Mellon support for ongoing institute research to examine trends in humanities funding and "to better understand racial, ethnic and gender disparities in higher education." "Such understanding should support the work of institutions seeking to increase the number of African-Americans and Hispanics pursuing Ph.D.s," Ehrenberg says. Pay secrecy has been challenged in the courts in the United States and abroad. However, only limited empirical evidence exists to guide practitioners seeking to reform their organizations' pay communications policies, Belogolovsky said. In this context, she said, her research is grounded on the assumption that there is likely to be no simple answer to questions of whether pay secrecy is beneficial or detrimental to organizations. Belogolovsky said her research is aimed at providing insights for practitioners by shedding light on conditions under which pay secrecy might affect individual and organizational performance. Read more at www.ilr.cornell.edu/news/ ElenaBelogolovsky_04052013.html. ADVANCE

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