LERA 28th Annual PhD Student Consortium
"Navigating Power, Precarity, and Possibility in Labor Scholarship"
Saturday, May 30, 2026, 9:15 am - 12 pm
(Held in Conjunction with the LERA 78th Annual Meeting, May 28-31, 2026)
The 2026 consortium is sponsored by contributions from:
Cornell University, School of Industrial and Labor Relations
Florida International University, College of Business
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management and IWER
Michigan State University, School or Human Resources and Labor Relations
Pennsylvania State University, School of Labor and Employment Relations
Rutgers University, School of Management and Labor Relations
The Industrial Relations Section at Princeton University
University of Toronto, Center for Industrial Relations and Human Resources
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, School of Labor & Employment Relations
University of Minnesota, Center for Human Resources and Labor Studies
28th PhD Student Consortium Co-Chairs:
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Alex Busch
MIT Sloan
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Stefan Ivanovski
Cornell University
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Jianxuan Lei
University of Minnesota
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Sumati Thusoo
Rutgers University
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What to expect
The 2026 LERA PhD Student Consortium is designed as a supportive, inclusive, and intellectually substantive space for doctoral students in labor and employment relations and related fields. Building on lessons from past consortia, the 2026 program will emphasize breaking down hierarchical power dynamics between students and senior scholars, addressing precarity, uncertainty, and diversification in academic and non‑academic labor careers, decentering a purely U.S.-centric view of labor scholarship by foregrounding international and comparative perspectives and fostering peer networks, collaboration, and sustained community beyond the conference.
The consortium intentionally combines skills-based training, topical discussion, and peer-to-peer exchange, recognizing that PhD students at different stages have distinct but overlapping needs.
2026 LERA PhD Student Consortium Agenda
9 - 9:15 am: Breakfast, Introduction, and Welcome
9:15 - 9:45 am: Session 1: Navigating power as a Young Academic/Junior Scholar/Early Career Scholar
- Tamara Lee, Rutgers University
- Rebecca Givan, Rutgers University
9:45 - 10:15 am: Session 2: AI and Organized Labor
- Virginia Doellgast, Cornell University
- Lucas Franco, LIUNA Minnesota and North Dakota
10:15 - 10:30 am: Break
10:30 - 11:30 am: Session 3: Jobs, Careers, and Professional Survival
- Virginia Doellgast, Cornell University
- Lucas Franco, LIUNA Minnesota and North Dakota
- Ryan Lamare, London School of Economics
- Dionne Pohler, Cornell University
11:30 - 11:45 am: Wrap-up (and gather interest for the next PhD Consortium)
Evening activities to be determined.
RSVP
You will have the opportunity to RSVP to this event at the time that you register for the LERA 78th Annual Meeting, May 28-31, 2026, Minneapolis, Minnesota. If you are already registered and would like to attend this consortium, please contact [email protected] so it can be added to your registration.
Registration
The registration fee includes access to both the PhD Student Consortium and to the entire 4 days of LERA Annual Meeting.
Register at the 78th Annual Meeting homepage. For best price register by the early bird discount deadline, March 25, 2026. Registration fee is deeply discounted for LERA student members.Reimbursement
Depending on fundraising, students attending the consortium may be reimbursed all or a portion of the student rate ($231) for their meeting registration fees following the conference. You will need to be present at the consortium and sign-in. Following the consortium, refunds will made to the card you used when you registered.
A Safe and Inclusive Conference Experience
At LERA, we’re committed to fostering a professional, respectful environment where every attendee feels safe and valued. Our Code of Conduct sets clear expectations for behavior, allowing all participants to focus on learning, networking, and collaboration.
A Guide to Safe and Inclusive Conference Engagement offers practical strategies to support meaningful connections, avoid uncomfortable situations, and foster an inclusive professional community (also check out "Navigating conferences post #MeToo" which appeared in the 2025 LERA Perspectives on Work).
If you witness or experience behavior that violates the Code, we encourage you to speak up. Anyone is welcome to discuss a situation with a LERA staff member, board member, or officer. To initiate an investigation, a complaint should be filed. Anyone with an active .edu email address also has free access to Project Callisto which provides resources for victims of sexual harassment, including a matching service to safely and confidentially find others harmed by the same perpetrator.
Speaker Bios
Virginia Doellgast https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/people/virginia-l-doellgast
Virginia Doellgast is the Anne Evans Estabrook Professor of Employment Relations and Dispute Resolution in the ILR School at Cornell University. Her research focuses on the comparative political economy of labor markets and labor unions, inequality, precarity, and democracy at work. She is currently studying the impact of digitalization and AI on job quality in in the ICT services and game development industries, based on comparative research in North America and Europe. Past research projects have compared labor union responses to restructuring and employer collective action in the telecommunications sector; and worker voice and well-being in call centers.
Lucas Franco https://liunaminnesota.org/our-team
Lucas Franco is the Research Manager for LIUNA Minnesota and North Dakota. He works with the organizing team to design and execute strategic campaigns that grow union membership and improve conditions for construction workers. Lucas also serves as Board Chair of North Star Policy Action and the Minnesota Housing Partnership, where he helps guide organizational strategy, governance, and coalition building efforts focused on housing affordability, economic justice, and worker protections. Previously, Lucas worked as a researcher for UNITE HERE Local 8 in Seattle and the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights in Norway. Lucas holds a PhD and MA in Political Science from the University of Minnesota, an MA in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Oslo, and a BA in Political Science from Seattle University.
Rebecca Givan https://smlr.rutgers.edu/faculty-staff/rebecca-givan
Rebecca Kolins Givan is an associate professor of Labor Studies and Employment Relations in the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. She is the president of Rutgers AAUP-AFT. She has published widely on employment relations in health care, comparative welfare states and labor studies in journals such as Social Forces, ILR Review, and British Journal of Industrial Relations. Her recent book The Challenge to Change: Reforming Health Care on the Front Line in the United States and the United Kingdom was published in 2016 by Cornell University Press.
Ryan Lamare https://www.lse.ac.uk/people/ryan-lamare
Ryan’s main research interests are in quantitative empirical analyses of the interactions between institutions and ERHR actors. His research consists of two main projects connected to this theme: the relationships between workplace actors and the political arena, and the use of private workplace conflict management systems at organizations. In related projects, he examines the ties between institutions and employee voice at multinational firms, and the ways in which macro-level shocks affect work. He has published widely on these issues at elite ERHR outlets like ILR Review, Industrial Relations, and British Journal of Industrial Relations, as well as top journals in HR and management, work sociology, law, and political science. He has received several top honors in his field, including the John T. Dunlop Outstanding Scholar Award and the James G. Scoville Best International/Comparative Industrial Relations Paper Award. He is currently Editor-in-Chief at British Journal of Industrial Relations.
Tamara Lee https://smlr.rutgers.edu/faculty-staff/tamara-lee
(awaiting bio)
Dionne Pohler https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/people/dionne-pohler
Dionne Pohler is the David and Alexandra Lipsky Professor in Dispute Resolution at Cornell University ILR School in the Department of Global Labor and Work and Associate Director of the Scheinman Institute on Conflict Resolution. She previously held faculty positions and research chairs at both the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Toronto. Her research covers topics in conflict and dispute resolution, work and employment, co-operative governance, labour relations, rural issues and rural-urban polarization, and public policy.
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Register for the LERA 78th Annual Meeting, May 28-31, 2026 in Minneapolis, MN
