THINKING IN A TANK

Vass Bednar'10

I work in a tank in outer space. 

That's right - I'm a Research Associate at the Martin Prosperity Institute - the Rotman School of Management think-tank. And we're located in the MaRs Heritage Building, which is part of the  MaRS Discovery District.  Supposedly, the building brims with scientists, entrepreneurs, and innovators of all stripes who reap the benefits of spillovers from face to face connection. *I'm not totally sure how often this actually happens, but I can tell you that it's a great place to work.

What do I do in this tank? I design and participate in research that is intended to neutrally influence public policy in a way that's responsible. We have a mandate to disseminate publically relevant information to a wide audience - i.e. we don't only speak to the academy. At the same time, we also publish in academic journals and participate in conferences. This (I think) helps us accomplish two things: 1. We maintain our legitimacy as a thinking-place and 2. We strengthen and build new relationships with other individuals and institutions that help us improve our research agenda(s). And though we often connect our research to policy, we are economically focused, so we count business schools and economic developers among our primary audience.

Now, people hear "Richard Florida" and they immediately think of the "Creative Class" (and maybe some negative connotations). Though he is our Director, I actually focus most of my time exploring the dynamics of service class workers. As an occupational grouping, these jobs are characterized by low levels of autonomy and the performance of service for others. My research explores ways to upgrade these low-paying, routine-oriented service jobs - the largest category of jobs in most developed economies - by improving monetary and non-monetary compensation, autonomy, training and opportunities for advancement. I've been able to work in the Statistics Canada Research Data Centre with micro-data on this, as well as access Hulchanski's Three Cities data to put a new spin on his maps. Both of these are a direct benefit of being part of the University of Toronto. I also get to learn a lot on the job - so much that I sometimes try to pass myself off as a bit of a labour economist in public.

I guess the biggest challenge has been balancing the luxury of exploratory research with the imperative to 'produce' while juggling multiple projects.  But that challenge is offset by the excitement of coming up with ideas, working with my teammates to figure out how or if to pursue something, and debating ideas with each other so that we can properly refine our thinking.

*My boss (Research Director Kevin Stolarick) keeps encouraging me to wear my DeBono "White Hat" - but I don't look good in hats or white. 

Congratulations to Viola Dessant'10, Jay Paleja'09 and Laura Sampson'09 on their recent marriages!  We wish them and all SPPG alumni celebrating at weddings throughout the season the very best.