Sections

• News
• People
• Undergraduate Program
• Graduate Program
• Colloquia
• Links
• Contact Us

Quick links On the Job Market Undergraduate Advising Computer Support Search Sociology Sociology 1282 Social Sciences & Humanities University of California, Davis One Shields Avenue Davis, CA 95616 (530) 752-0782 phone (530) 752-0783 fax

Sociology > People > Vicki Smith Personal tools Log in     Vicki Smith Department Chair Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley Curriculum Vitae Email:  vasmith @ ucdavis.edu Office: 2270 SS&H Phone: 752-6170 Office hours: R 8-12, F 8-4, M 8-5, or by apt. (1288 SS & H) Research Interests Organizations, Work, and Corporations Gender and Inequality Field Methods Current Research Projects I have been working on various research projects related to employment, pathways to work, and inequality. THE GOOD TEMP, my recent book with Estee Neuwirth, analyzes one type of organization that shapes pathways to work and labor market opportunities: the temporary help placement firm. I've also conducted research in a different type of labor market intermediary, employment clubs that are geared to help people sharpen their job search skills and their understanding of how labor markets work. These labor market intermediaries play an increasingly important role in creating and maintaining inequality based on class and race in the contemporary economy. My newest project tackles these issues from a very different angle. COUNSELING KIDS: THE OCCUPATIONAL WORLD OF SCHOOL COUNSELORS is an in-depth examination of counselors. School counselors are often depicted as one-dimensional gatekeepers, blocking or opening up kids' pathways into work and college. In an effort to update and provide greater nuance to the picture of public school counselors, I've conducted 80 in-depth interviews with a range of people from the field of school counseling, including counselors at the middle and at the senior high school level; counselor educators; and counseling elites and policy makers. I've attended statewide and national conferences for counselors, sites which I consider to be ground zero for understanding how counselors' identities and missions are shaped. Funded by the Spencer Foundation, this research will culminate in a number of articles for academic and counseling journals. Publications Smith, Victoria and Neuwirth, Esther B. 2008. The Good Temp. Ithaca:Cornell University/ILR Press (Paperback edition). Smith, Victoria. 2002. Crossing the Great Divide: Worker Risk and Opportunity in the New Economy. Ithaca:Cornell University/ILR Press (Paperback edition). Smith, Victoria. 2001. "Teamwork vs. Tempwork: Managers and the Dualisms of Workplace Restructuring," In Working in Restructured Workplaces: New Directions for the Sociology of Work. Pp. 7-28 in Karen Campbell, Daniel Cornfield, and Holly McCammon (eds). London and Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Smith, Victoria. 2001. "Ethnographies of Work and the Work of Ethnographers," Pp. 220-233 in Handbook on Ethnography. Paul Atkinson, Amanda Coffey, Sara Delamont, Lyn Lofland, John Lofland (eds). London and Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.