Perry Work Report: work&labour news&research, January 16, 2015

January 16, 2015

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Supreme Court Decision Gives the RCMP the Right to Collectively Bargain

RCMP members have won a long-fought battle for the right to collectively bargain with the government.In a 6-1 decision, the Supreme Court of Canada has struck down a law that specifically forbade the Mounties from unionizing, saying it violated their charter rights to freedom of association. The RCMP has been specifically barred from forming a union since the 1960s. It's the only police force in Canada with such a restriction.

CBC News, January 16, 2015: "RCMP officers have right to collective bargaining, Supreme Court rules: Federal government given 1 year to amend law to allow collective bargaining," by James Fiz-Morris

"The Mounties have the right to engage in “meaningful” collective bargaining, free from the control of their employer, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled, striking down the negotiating system created by Parliament for the RCMP as deeply unfair to its members."

The Globe and Mail, January 16, 2015: “Supreme Court backs Mounties’ right to collective bargainign,” by Sean Fine

 “The appeal from the judgment of the Court of Appeal for Ontario, Number C-50475, 2012 ONCA 363, dated June 1, 2012, heard on February 18, 2014, is allowed with costs to the appellants throughout.  Rothstein J. is dissenting.  Section 96 of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Regulations, 1988, was unconstitutional and would have been declared to be of no force or effect had it not been repealed.  Paragraph (d) of the definition of “employee” at s. 2(1) of the Public Service Labour Relations Act is unconstitutional and is of no force or effect.  This declaration of invalidity is suspended for a period of 12 months.  The constitutional questions are answered as follows…"

Judgments of the Supreme Court of Canada, January 16, 2015: News Release
Supreme Court of Canada, January 16, 2015: Reasons for judgment

Leading up to the SCC decision:

"Mounties are eagerly anticipating a decision this Friday [January 16th] from Canada’s top court over whether they can unionize."

"Currently, RCMP members are not part of the labour relations regime established for other federal public sector workers. Instead, they elect staff relations representatives to advocate on their behalf on pay and workplace issues."

"Critics say these in-house representatives are ‘part of the chain of command,’ and that RCMP regulations preventing Mounties from forming an independent association to engage in collective bargaining is a violation of their Charter rights."

"The RCMP is the only major police force in Canada without a union."

"[Rob Creasser, a spokesman for the Mounted Police Professional Association of Canada,] said the current system of representation is more akin to ‘collective begging’ than collective bargaining because all staff relations representatives can do is make recommendations to management and the Treasury Board about pay. ‘It doesn’t allow them to be effective. They have no power,’ he said."

"But in court filings, lawyers for the Attorney General of Canada said that staff relations representatives have provided members a “meaningful” process for resolving workplace issues since 1974 and that management is duty-bound to consider their representations in good faith."

Canada.com, January 13, 2015: “Mounties await Supreme Court decision on whether they can unionize,” by Douglas Quan

"Employee workplace representation for members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has been a contentious issue for much of the organization’s history. In recent decades the Staff Relations Representation Program or SRRP) [sic] has been subject to a series of legal challenges, including constitutional claims that it violates RCMP members’ Charter freedoms, including freedom of association. The federal government and RCMP management have consistently opposed independent employee representation or unionization."

Social Science Research Network, January 25, 2014: “Non-Union Employee Representation in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police: Resistance and Revitalization” by Sara Slinn [in “Voice and Involvement at Work: Experience with Non-Union Representation” by P. Gollan, B. Kaufman, D. Taras, and A. Wilkinson, eds., (Routledge 2014), 228-263]

Click here for an outline of this case from the “Judgments of the Supreme Court of Canada” website.

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Canadian Long-form Census: Impact of Cancellation and Attempt to Reinstate for 2016

"In July 2010, [the Ontario Council for University Libraries (OCUL)] joined many concerned organizations and individuals in Canada in objecting to the government of Canada’s decision to cancel the mandatory long-form questionnaire as part of the 2011 Census of Population.”

"OCUL represents 21 Ontario university libraries with more than 450,000 students and faculty across the province. In addition, we provide support to researchers from municipalities, provincial and territorial governments, NGO’s, social and cultural associations, as well as private sector marketing and business firms and organizations."

"The OCUL Data Community is a community of data professionals with expertise and interests in the use of all forms of data, including the Canadian census. The information presented here has been prepared to identify the impact of the cancellation of the mandatory long-form census and ensure that researchers have a full understanding of the current situation.”

Ontario Council for University Libraries, January 9, 2015: “Long-form Census: Information on the impact of the cancellation of the mandatory long-form census and the current process in Parliament to reinstate it for 2016,” submitted by Bartek

Reinstatement of the Mandatory Long-Form Census of Canada:

Information about the Bill

  • Bill C626: An Act to amend the Statistics Act (appointment of Chief Statistician and long-form census)
  • Introduction and First Reading: September 22, 2014 - Table of Contents >> Routine Proceedings >> Statistics Act (15:10)
  • Second Reading: November 7, 2014 - Table of Contents >> Private Members’ Business
  • Support for the Bill

Support for the Bill

"The organization Evidence for Democracy has created an online form which can be completed in support of the reinstatement of the mandatory long-form census of Canada. The form will send an e-mail of support to your Member of Parliament and each of the federal party leaders.  More information about Evidence for Democracy can be found at  evidencefordemocracy.ca.”

Ontario Council for University Libraries, January 9, 2015: “Current process in Parliament to reinstate the mandatory long-form census for 2016”

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Gender Equality on Corporate Boards and in Management Roles

“A study by non-profit group Catalyst says 20.8 per cent of board seats at companies listed on the S&P/TSX 60 index were held by women as of October 2014.”

The study’s methodology has been changed, making it incomparable to previous years’ studies, but going forward Canada’s gender parity will be comparable globally.

“Canada has a slightly higher percentage of women in the boardrooms of top public firms than Germany, Spain, or Switzerland, and a slightly lower percentage than The Netherlands, Denmark, or the U.K. ...Norway came closest to gender parity, with 35.5 per cent of corporate board seats held by women. Japan ranked lowest, with just 3.1 per cent.”

"More women on corporate boards results in measurably increased corporate performance, according to Catalyst. ...[T]here’s a clear business case for diverse corporate boards, but ... simple common sense makes the case just as well. ‘It’s making sure that you’ve got people with different experiences and perspectives around the table wrestling with often very complex issues,’ [Alex Johnston, executive director of Catalyst Canada] said.”

CBC News, January 13, 2015: “Gender equality on corporate boards: Study puts Canada in middle of the pack”

Catalyst, January 13, 2015: “New Global 2014 Catalyst Census: Women Board Directors”

Read the report here.

Gender equality in management roles is an issue that needs to be addressed, as well.

"The last 20 years has seen a surge in the number of women employed in senior and middle management positions, according to a new United Nations report ... [However, d]espite the headway made in equalizing the gender gap at management levels, only five per cent or less of the CEOs of the world’s largest corporation are women, the report points out, adding that the larger the company, the less likely it is that a woman will be at its head."

"In addition, the report’s findings show that women own and manage over 30 per cent of all businesses but that they are more likely to be found in micro and small enterprises."

Recommendations of closing the gender gap include:

  • ‘flexible solutions’ to manage work and family time commitments;
  • providing maternity protection coverage and childcare support for professional women;
  • ‘changing mind-sets’ to break cultural barriers and fight sexual harassment; and
  • implementing gender-sensitive human resources policies and measures

United Nations, January 12, 2015: “UN study finds increase in women managers, urges greater efforts for workforce equality”

International Labour Organization, January 12, 2015: “Women in Business and Management: Gaining Momentum -- Abridged Version of the Global Report” (44 pages, PDF)

Download the full version here (198 pages, PDF).

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Canada Stands Tall in Global Fight against Depression

"Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, affecting more than 350 million people. In Canada, one in five will at some point in their lives have a mental illness issue, and with it will come a burden imposed not only on them, but also on staff and productivity in the workplace."

"Canada is ... at the forefront of helping to address depression with [The National Standard of Canada for a Psychologically Safe and Healthy Workplace (75 pages, PDF)] being the first of its kind in the world, but we have more to be proud of:

The Globe and Mail, January 12, 2015: Canada stands tall in global fight against depression,” by Joseph Ricciuti

The Atlantic, December 22, 2014: “Which jobs have the highest rates of depression?” by Joe Pinsker

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Quality vs. Quantity -- December's Labour Force Survey

"Canada’s employment count ended 2014 with back-to-back monthly declines, but beneath the surface of the stalled job numbers is evidence of an improving quality in the country’s labour market."

"... [W]ithin December’s overall number was a healthy 53,500 rise in full-time employment -- offset by a 57,700 drop in the generally less desirable part-time job category."

"Meanwhile, private- and public-sector employment rose by 5,100 and 5,500 jobs, respectively, while self-employment fell by 14,900 -- another sign of improved quality of jobs."

"However, the labour force participation rate -- indicative of how many working-age Canadians are actually working or actively seeking work -- remains the major black mark on Canada’s labour market."

"The participation rate dipped to a 13-year low of 65.9 per cent in December, from 66 per cent in November. The weak participation rate suggests many Canadians still see dim prospects for finding permanent work, and are instead opting to stay at home or upgrade their education. That is disguising the true extent of unemployment, critics say."

The Globe and Mail, January 9, 2015: “Fewer jobs in Canada - but evidence of more quality positions,” by David Parkinson

Statistics Canada’s The Daily, January 9, 2014: “Labour Force Survey, December 2014”

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ #JobsFriday, January 9, 2015: “Ontario’s long climb out of recessionary job loss,” by Kaylie Tiessen

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The Mystery of the Missing Workers

"Why the [labor-force] participation rate [in the United States] hasn’t picked up as the recovery has strengthened is the biggest economic mystery of our time, and the new job figures only deepen it. Common sense and economic theory both suggest that as the pace of hiring rises people who have dropped out of the labor force during the recession and its aftermath would start looking for work. But that doesn’t appear to be happening, or not on a large scale, anyway."

Most policy-makers ... have been assuming that much of the decline is cyclical and that, as the recovery picks up, more and more discouraged workers will return to the labor force."

"By now, though, we should be seeing signs of the participation rate rebounding. The fact that it isn’t is somewhat alarming."

The New Yorker, January 9, 2015: “America’s workforce: The mystery of the ‘missing millions’ deepens,” by John Cassidy

"The size of this ‘missing workers’ cohort in the United States is estimated to be well into the millions.”

Journalist’s Resource, January 9, 2015: “‘Missing workers’ and labor-force participation: Research review on unemployment and getting back to work”

National Bureau of Economics Research, May 2014: “The Career Prospects of Overeducated Americans,” by Brian Clark, Clement Joubert and Arnaud Maurel (48 pages, PDF)

Along with the labor-force participation rate, wage rates are raising concerns.

“...[A]ccelerating job growth isn’t translating into wage gains for most workers. Average hourly pay fell in December, and while that may be little more than statistical noise -- there was an unusually big jump up in November -- the overall trend hasn’t been much better."

"If economic growth continues at its recent pace and the unemployment rate keeps falling, we should start to see the progress reflected in workers’ paychecks. If we don’t, that’s a sign there are deeper problems in the economy."

FiveThirtyEight, January 9, 2015: “2014 was the best year for jobs since 1999,” by Ben Casselman

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Want to Be Happy? Join a Union ... Or Go Back to Bed

A new study out of Baylor University and the University of Arkansas claims that for “those who belong to a union, membership seems to bring a benefit that perhaps surpasses better wages or generous health insurance: higher life satisfaction.”

The study teases out “four ‘pathways’ by which being a union member might improve quality of life compared with not being a member: ‘These include having greater satisfaction with one’s experiences while working, feeling greater job security, being afforded numerous opportunities for social interaction and integration, and enhancing the participatory benefits associated with more engaged democratic citizenship.’”

Nevertheless, “‘According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2014), only 11.3 percent of all wage and salary workers are members of a labor union, which reflects a decline of almost 10 percent of the American working population in the last 30 years,’ [the study’s authors] write.”

The New York Times, January 13, 2015: “Want to Be Happy? Join a Union,” by John Guida

Baylor University & University of Arkansas, October 2014: “Labor Union Membership and Life Satisfaction in the United States,” by Patrick Flavin and Gregory Shufeldt (22 pages, PDF)

But there is still more to happiness. “...[H]appiness comes in different forms, which relate in varying ways to opportunity, economic progress, and inequality.”

"Scholars of subjective well-being increasingly distinguish between:

  1. Hedonic well-being: how people experience their daily lives
  2. Evaluative well-being: how satisfied people are with their lives as a whole, rather than just in the moment; and
  3. Eudaimonic well-being: a person’s ability to lead a purposeful and meaningful life.”

"In order to fulfill this last and least studied dimension of well-being, people have to have the capacity to think beyond daily struggles and to invest in future opportunities. This capacity is not shared by all -- particularly not by those who face deep poverty, poor health, and/or violent conflict."

"In a new paper, Milena Nikolova and [Carol Graham] use well-being metrics and data from the Gallup World Poll to study well-being of different kinds around the world."

Brookings, January 5 2015: “Happiness Requires Opportunity, Not Just Contentment,” by Carol Graham

World Development, April 2015: “Bentham or Aristotle in the Development Process? An Empirical Investigation of Capabilities and Subjective Well-Being,” by Carol Graham and Milena Nikolova (17 pages, PDF)

The Guardian, January 11, 2015: “The economics of happiness can make for sad reading,” by Larry Elliott

And if you’ve tried it all and you’re still feeling blue, just set the thermostat to 19.3°C and go back to bed. It’s science.

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The Future of Work: There's an App for That

"Handy is one of a large number of startups built around systems which match jobs with independent contractors on the fly, and thus supply labour and services on demand."

The on-demand economy is the result of pairing [a freelancing] workforce with the smartphone, which now provides far more computing power than the desktop computers which reshaped companies in the 1990s, and to far more people."

But there is reason to be skeptical of on-demand companies’ futures:

  • The first is that on-demand companies trying to keep the costs to their clients as low as possible have difficulties training, managing and motivating workers.
  • The second problem is that on-demand companies seem likely to be plagued by regulatory and political problems if they get large enough for people to notice them.
  • The third issue is size. ...[S]caling up may be difficult when barriers to entry are low and bonds of loyalty are non-existent.

So, while the “on-demand economy is good for outsiders and insurgents -- and for entrepreneurs trying to create new businesses using such people... [it] will inevitably exacerbate the trend towards enforced self-reliance that has been gathering pace since the 1970s ... [and] governments will have to rethink institutions that were designed in an era when contract employers were a rarity.”

The Economist, January 3, 2015: “The future of work: There’s an app for that”

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What the Next 15 Years of Work Hold

"According to a new study ... any of the ideas, trends, and behaviors that will shape work in 2030 is already evident today. However, some of these changes are quietly emerging and business leaders might not truly understand the significance of their impact on performance, productivity, and retaining talent."

Here’s a glimpse into the workplaces of 2030:

  • There will be ‘places to work,’ not ‘workplaces’: “The best workplaces will have offices, rooms, and different quiet areas so that workers have choices to where they want to work.”
  • Smaller individual organizations: “With so much opportunity for collaborations, there is no need to build a costly big business. Instead, future business leaders will be focused on specializing their services and products to stand apart from the crowd.”
  • Less hierarchy: “In the future workplace, everyone is a leader. Work will thrive in teams, not dictators because young employees don’t think too highly of hierarchy or ranking rules. They believe that anyone can be an ‘intrapreneur’ and can have influence and control through their work.”
  • Big emphasis on wellness: “Offices will be much healthier environments whether that’s good lighting, relaxation areas, sleeping rooms, art, music, pets at work, and even areas with grass so that employees can rest their feet.”
  • Need for a ‘Chief of Work’ role at the c-suite level: “...[O]rganizations will need to take an active role in proactively managing or curating the experience of work. The Chief of Work is someone who sets the culture in the organization, which includes what environment and even what technologies are used.”

Fast Company, January 12, 2015: “What Will Work Look Like In 2030?,”by Vivian Giang

CBRE & Genesis, October 2014: “Fast Forward 2030: The Future of Work and the Workplace" (84 pages, PDF)

“Some people have specialized to be programmers and engineers whose job is to build mechanical minds. Just as mechanical muscles made human labor less in demand so are mechanical minds making human brain labor less in demand.”

"This is an economic revolution. You may think we’ve been here before, but we haven’t."

CGP Grey, August 13, 2014: “Humans Need Not Apply” [video, 15min.]

The Broadbent Blog, January 11, 2015: “Computers, jobs and rising inequality,” by Andrew Jackson

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PowerToFly & Intel, Striving to Make Silicon Valley More Diverse

"The talk these days is about why there are so few women in tech. Last August, Katharine Zaleski and Milena Berry created a company that they claim will be a solution. PowerToFly is a service that finds work-from-home jobs for female tech talent, particularly mothers who don’t want to leave their children."

"Already, PowerToFly counts a few big companies like Buzzfeed and Hearst among its clients. Both [founders] are mothers and say they know that female tech talent is out there. They believe that remote work is the key to closing the tech gender gap."

Zaleski says: “We’re offering a service where we present vetted female talent. Women in tech do exist, but when they get to a certain age, they don’t want to sit in essentially college campuses -- which is what these companies have done to attract a certain type of man. Women in their thirties have experience, they want their own lives, and these are the women that companies want.”

Fortune, January 9, 2015: “Could these 2 women help solve Silicon Valley’s diversity problem?,” by Shalene Gupta

Xconomy, January 6, 2015: “Need for New Approaches to Encourage Women to Join, and Stay in, Tech,” by Joao-Pierre S. Ruth

Buzzfeed, January 9, 2015: “21 Tips For Slaying At Work From Top [Female] Bosses,” by Rachel Wilkerson Miller, Chris Ritter, and Alice Mongkongllite

"...Intel’s C.E.O., Brian Krzanich, announced this week that his company plans to spend three hundred million dollars over the next five years to improve the gender and racial diversity of its U.S. employee base, and of Silicon Valley at large...."

"The company wants to invest in training and financial support for engineers and computer scientists who are women or from underrepresented minorities.... It also hopes to support the hiring and retention of workers from those groups, including by tying Intel executives’ compensation to their success in reaching its diversity goals. It plans to fund programs to improve the representation of women and minorities in the tech and video-game industries.... It will also contribute to initiatives designed to counter the bullying of women in gaming.... But when it comes to breaking down the three hundred million dollars in spending, the company offered few precise details. The reason for this is straightforward: the company’s executives, including Krzanich, aren’t sure yet where the money will go."

"Money will, of course, help Silicon Valley to change its human-resources practices and train more female and minority engineers, but to transform the industry’s culture will be harder still."

The New Yorker, January 11, 2015: “Can Intel Make Silicon Valley More Diverse?,” by Vauhini Vara

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Why Women Stay Quiet at Work

This is the second of four essays in a series on women at work. Read the first here.

When a woman speaks in a professional setting, she walks a tightrope. Either she’s barely heard or she’s judged as too aggressive. When a man says virtually the same thing, heads nod in appreciation for his fine idea. As a result, women often decide that saying less is more."

"A study by a Yale psychologist, Victoria L. Brescoll, found that male senators with more power ... spoke more on the Senate floor than their junior colleagues. But for female senators, power was not linked to significantly more speaking time. Suspecting that powerful women stayed quiet because they feared a backlash, Professor Brescoll looked deeper. She asked professional men and women to evaluate the competence of chief executives who voiced their opinions more or less frequently. Male executives who spoke more often than their peers were rewarded with 10 percent higher ratings of competence. When female executives spoke more than their peers, both men and women punished them with 14 percent lower ratings. As this and other research shows, women who worry that talking ‘too much’ will cause them to be disliked are not paranoid; they are often right.”

"Obviously, businesses need to find ways to interrupt this gender bias. Just as orchestras that use blind auditions increase the number of women who are selected, organizations can increase women’s contributions by adopting practices that focus less on the speaker and more on the idea. Since most work cannot be done anonymously, leaders must also take steps to encourage women to speak and be heard."

"The long-term solution to the double bind of speaking while female is to increase the number of women in leadership roles."

The New York Times, January 12, 2015: “Speaking While Female,” by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant

Administrative Science Quarterly, December 2011: “Who Takes the Floor and Why: Gender, Power, and Volubility in Organizations,” by Victoria L. Brescoll (20 pages, PDF)

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National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Canadian Women Long Over-Due

"The Canadian Labour Congress is ... reiterating its call for a National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women."

"The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has issued the report of its two-year study on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in British Columbia. The report clearly links the disproportionate amount of violence experienced by Indigenous women in Canada to the ‘past and present institutional and structural inequalities ‘that these women face, including poverty, discrimination and colonization. It points out that any response must be comprehensive and holistic, which means addressing poverty, lack of housing, and access to education and employment."

"The report clearly reinforces calls for a National Inquiry as well as a comprehensive strategy that would include all levels of government, and involve indigenous peoples, particularly indigenous women, at all stages."

Canadian Labour Congress, January 12, 2015: “It’s time to act: National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women”

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, December 21, 2014: “Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in British Columbia, Canada” (127 pages, PDF)

Unfortunately, the “Conservative government has so far refused calls for a national public inquiry on the issue, saying it is more interested in taking action. Last month, when CBC’s Peter Mansbridge asked the prime minister about launching a public inquiry, Harper said: ‘It isn’t high on our radar, to be honest.’”

But it should be, because according the RCMP over the last three decades there have been nearly 1,200 cases of missing and murdered aboriginal women.

CBC News, January 12, 2015: “Murdered and missing aboriginal women deserve inquiry, rights group says”

Royal Canadian Mounted Police, May 2014: “Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women: A National Operational Overview” (23 pages, PDF)

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Obama's Plan for Free Community College

Last week President Obama “unveiled his plan to make community college tuition free for every student ‘willing to work for it.’ The announcement surprised and delighted many liberals, who tend to believe that the government has an obligation to provide a basic education to everybody in the country. In post-industrial America, that increasingly means at least a couple years of college.”

To date, the federal government has tried to “combat rising [tuition] without demanding too much from states or schools, instead offering loans, grants, and tax breaks directly to students so they can afford an education. Of course, this has bred other problems. Federal financial aid has made it possible for states to keep cutting their appropriations and for schools to keep hiking tuition without hurting enrollment. Meanwhile, it’s also nourished a predatory for-profit college industry that lures in low-income, underprepared students so it can feed off their federal loan and grant dollars. Add it all up together, mix in rising enrollment and a faltering economy that’s hammered family incomes, and you get our enormous student-loan problem. We saw the system was malfunctioning. We patched it with one kludge after another. And now we’re staring at the blue screen of death.”

"Theoretically, we could solve all this by reinvesting in our public colleges so that tuition stays cheap."

“Under [Obama’s] plan, the federal government would pay 75 percent of the cost of tuition for students enrolled at least half time while participating states would pick up the rest. In other words, Washington would give a hand only if state governments promise not to use it as an excuse to shirk their own responsibilities. Implicitly, it also encourages states to make sure community colleges keep their costs down -- though, unlike four-year schools, their spending hasn’t grown much in recent years. In the end, it seems designed to break the cycle of increasing costs and rising government aid. And it may be realistic because in the grand scheme of things, it’s dirt cheap.”

Slate, January 13, 2014: “Kludge Not,” by Jordan Weissmann

The New York Times, January 8, 2015: “Obama Plan Would Help Many Go to Community College Free,” by Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Tamar Lewin

The White House, January 9, 2015: “FACT SHEET - White House Unveils America’s College Promise Proposal: Tuition-Free Community College for Responsible Students”

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How to Think About Think Tanks -- Two Perspectives

"Maybe we shouldn't be surprised that think tanks produce studies confirming their (sometimes hidden) biases. After all, this is something we all do. To mitigate this, we need to arm ourselves with a certain self-awareness. Then we can be more alert to the things in a think tank's makeup that can help us to judge its credibility. It would also help to show how public policy discussion should be structured to promote a sincere exchange of facts and ideas."

Policy Options, January 2015: "How to Think about Think Tanks," by Miles Corak

For the complete story see: Economics for Public Policy, November 25, 2014: "How to think about 'think' tanks," by Miles Corak

TV Ontario, November 7, 2014: "The Agenda with Steve Paikin: Thinking Inside the Tank" [video, 29:13 min.]

"In this article, I contribute a simple measure of think tank ideology to the discussion. It uses social media data from Twitter and hinges on important assumptions about the ideological leanings of two particular think tanks and about the structure of social networks."

Policy Options, January 2015: "What can a little birdie tell us about think tank ideology?," by Stephen Tapp

The New York Times, September 6, 2014: "Foreign Powers Buy Influence at Think Tanks," by Eric Liprton, Brooke Williams, and Nicholas Confessore

Transparify -- A global rating of the financial transparency of over 150 major think tanks [website]

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Book of the Week

Women in STEM Careers: International Perspectives on Increasing Workforce Participation, Advancement and Leadership, edited by Diana Bilimoria and Linley Lord. Cheltenham, Glos: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 2014. 256 p. ISBN 9781781954065 (hardcover)

From the publisher: "Adopting an international perspective, this book draws on current research from the United States, Australia and Europe to examine women's participation, advancement and leadership in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. The book explores the nature of STEM careers across industry and academia, and presents the latest thinking on successful individual, organizational and educational initiatives related to women in STEM. Along with a select group of international contributors, Diana Bilimoria and Linely Lord provide a fresh perspective, based on success stories and successful initiatives, augmenting contemporary perspectives on the barriers and issues that women in STEM careers continue to face. Women in STEM Careers is a positive and insightful outlook on gender relations, which will be an invaluable resource for scholars, practitioners and policy-makers in organizations, human resources, academia, and government, as well as for women aspiring to, or presently working in, STEM fields."

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