PhD Candidate: Social Unsafety in Organisations

Employment

0.8 - 1.0 FTE

Gross monthly salary

€ 2,770 - € 3,539

Required background

Research University Degree

Organizational unit

Faculty of Social Sciences

Application deadline

10 June 2024

Apply now

Are you intrigued by questions concerning social safety in the workplace, and are you interested in conducting sociological research that will increase our understanding of this societal problem? Then the Sociology Department is looking for you! We offer you the opportunity to develop and carry out your own PhD project within the areas of expertise of supervisors Dr Bas Hofstra, Dr Ashwin Rambaran and Prof. Niels Spierings.

The project will be funded by a Starters Grant from the research institute Radboud Social Cultural Research (RSCR) awarded to Dr Bas Hofstra and Dr Ashwin Rambaran. Social unsafety (encompassing a host of undesirable behaviours) in the workplace is a widespread phenomenon in many organisations, which comes at great costs for both employees (low well-being, low motivation, poor performance, attrition) and organisations (loss of trust and reputation, and high turnover). The research project aims to understand the causes and consequences of social unsafety in the workplace through a sequential mixed methods design combining insights from sociology, psychology, network science, and organisation science. Particular focus is on social unsafety prevalence, why some groups (i.e. marginalised groups) are targets for social unsafety, possible ameliorating factors, and its consequences.

What are the causes of social unsafety, and what are its consequences, and for whom? Organisation research emphasises the role of structure (lack of resources, power differentials), culture (interpersonal communication, accountability), and system (procedures and regulations). However, how do these contextual factors work out for individual people? And does this differ between persons with different backgrounds? People monitor, process and respond differently to socially safe versus threatening situations in their social environment, but how this differs is largely unknown. For instance, the undesirable impact of social unsafety can be countered by resources such as social support and the performance of colleagues, but these resources are unlikely to be equally distributed across all employees. Often (intersectionally) marginalised groups are disadvantaged in this respect.

While there is some insight into the causes and consequences of social unsafety in the workplace, our understanding is still limited, as most research is descriptive or practical. While these studies can be useful to scope the size of the problem or find solutions for a single organisation, they are less useful for developing and testing theories that pinpoint the causes (and their relative impact) and consequences of social unsafety. Such theories are needed to draw reliable and valid conclusions for the general population of organisations and employees. Importantly, theory and research do not differentiate between the processes in organisations for marginalised groups of people, including people with intersecting identities.

As a PhD candidate you will contribute to these research gaps, and apply a sequential mixed-methods design in which an intersectional descriptive paper is followed by a qualitative theory generating study using focus studies, which feed into explanatory quantitative studies, using existing large-scale survey data from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) using multilevel analysis to discern explanations and outcomes at the individual and organisational levels. In addition, you will contribute to teaching Bachelor’s students within the Sociology Department (10% of your working time).

Profile

• You hold a Master's or Research Master's degree in Sociology, Social Psychology, Organisational Science or a related discipline.
• You have experience with quantitative methods, in particular with various forms of regression analysis.
• You have an affinity, and preferably some experience, with qualitative research methods, in particular in-depth interviews or focus groups.
• You have good written and spoken English language skills as required for scientific publishing.

We are

The research programme of the Sociology Department is part of the research institute Radboud Social Cultural Research (RSCR), which brings together the disciplines of sociology, gender and diversity studies, and anthropology and development studies. The Sociology Department offers a Bachelor’s programme and a Master’s programme and is also involved in an interdisciplinary Research Master’s programme in the Social and Cultural Sciences. Both the research institute and the education institute are part of the Faculty of Social Sciences, one of the largest faculties at Radboud University.

The Sociology Department has developed an innovative research programme and a well-established educational curriculum focusing on aspects of inequality, social cohesion and inclusion/exclusion. Research in the department is open to various (inter-)disciplinary perspectives in order to contribute productively to the analysis and better understanding of challenging societal questions. The research programme of the Sociology Department was recently evaluated and assessed as ‘very good’ by the disciplinary Sociology assessment committee. The Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes consistently rank among the best Dutch Sociology programmes in the Elsevier ranking.

PhD candidates at the Sociology Department are part of the Interuniversity Center for Social Science Theory and Methodology (ICS) graduate school and participate in conferences and courses on theory, paper writing and societal impact together with PhD candidates (and staff) from the universities of Groningen (RUG), Utrecht (UU) and Amsterdam (UvA).

Radboud University

At Radboud University, we aim to make an impact through our work. We achieve this by conducting groundbreaking research, providing high-quality education, offering excellent support, and fostering collaborations within and outside the university. In doing so, we contribute indispensably to a healthy, free world with equal opportunities for all. To accomplish this, we need even more colleagues who, based on their expertise, are willing to search for answers. We advocate for an inclusive community and welcome employees with diverse backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives. Will you also contribute to making the world a little better? You have a part to play.

If you want to learn more about working at Radboud University, follow our Instagram account (link is external) and read stories from our colleagues.

Faculty of Social Sciences
At the Faculty of Social Sciences , humanity and society are our focus; we study how people behave, think and feel. Within this context, we look at themes such as human behaviour and the human psyche, education and upbringing, communication, society and culture. The faculty provides education to 6,000 students and employs 700 staff. Education is organised into six programme clusters: Psychology; Artificial Intelligence; Pedagogical Sciences and Educational Sciences; Communication Science; Sociology; and Cultural Anthropology and Developmental Sociology. Our research is carried out within three research institutes: the Donders Centre for Cognition, the Behavioural Science Institute, and Radboud Social Cultural Research.

We offer

• We will give you a temporary employment contract (0.8 FTE 5- year contract - 1.0 FTE 4- year contract) of 1,5 years, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, your contract will be extended by 2.5 years (4-year contract) or 3.5 years (5-year contract).
• You will receive a starting salary of €2,770 gross per month based on a 38-hour working week, which will increase to €3,539 from the fourth year onwards (salary scale P ).
• You will receive an 8% holiday allowance and an 8,3% end-of-year bonus.
• You will be able to use our Dual Career and Family Support Service . The Dual Career Programme assists your partner via support, tools, and resources to improve their chances of independently finding employment in the Netherlands. Our Family Support Service helps you and your partner feel welcome and at home by providing customised assistance in navigating local facilities, schools, and amenities. Also take a look at our support for international staff page to discover all our services for international employees.
• You will receive extra days off. With full-time employment, you can choose between 30 or 41 days of annual leave instead of the statutory 20.

Additional employment conditions

Work and science require good employment practices. Radboud University's primary and secondary employment conditions reflect this. You can make arrangements for the best possible work-life balance with flexible working hours, various leave arrangements and working from home. You are also able to compose part of your employment conditions yourself. For example, exchange income for extra leave days and receive a reimbursement for your sports membership. And, of course, we offer a good pension plan. We also give you plenty of room and responsibility to develop your talents and realise your ambitions. Therefore, we provide various training and development schemes.

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Practical information and applying

You can apply only via the button below. Address your letter of application to Niels Spierings. In the application form, you will find which documents you need to include with your application.

The first interviews will take place on 20 June. You will preferably start your employment on 1 September.

We can imagine you're curious about our application procedure . It describes what you can expect during the application procedure and how we handle your personal data and internal and external candidates.

Attachment
Social safety in organisations.docx
docx 40.64 KB

Apply now Application deadline 10 June 2024

We would like to recruit our new colleague ourselves. Acquisition in response to this vacancy will not be appreciated.

Would you like more information?
Dr J.A. Rambaran (Ashwin)
Dr B. Hofstra (Bas)

Last modified: 30 May 2024
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