Curriculum Vitae
Curriculum Vitae
Education
2026 Columbia University, Ph.D. Sociology (Expected)
“Precarity after Crisis: The Political Economy of the Post-COVID Workplace”
Committee: Adam Reich, Suresh Naidu, Josh Whitford, Bruce Western, Nathan Wilmers
2023 Columbia University, M.Phil. Sociology
“A Platform for Change: Deskilling, Reclassification, and the Reorganization of California's Grocery Industry”
Advisors: Adam Reich, Suresh Naidu, Bruce Western
2021 Columbia University, M.A. Sociology
2018 Cornell University, B.S. Industrial and Labor Relations, GPA: 3.9
Honors in Industrial and Labor Relations, Minor in Near Eastern Studies
“Solidarity Not Charity: The University Anti-Sweatshop Movement in the Age of Neoliberal Protest”
Advisors: Kate Bronfenbrenner, Eli Friedman
Research Interests
Labor, Precarious Work, Political Economy, Gig Work/ Platform Economy, Labor Movements, Work and Technology, Quantitative Methods, Qualitative Methods
Fellowships, Grants, and Awards
2025-2026 Incite Institute Dissertation Grant, Columbia University.
2024 Labor and Labor Movements Distinguished Student Paper Award, ASA Section on Labor and Labor Movements.
2024 Sociology Research Support Grant, Columbia University.
2024–2025 Center for Political Economy Graduate Student Grant, Columbia University.
2023 Sociology Research Support Grant, Columbia University.
2023 Mayer N. Zald Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Student Paper Award, ASA Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements.
2023 Daniel Bell Award for Publicly Minded Sociology, Columbia University.
2022 Sociology Research Support Grant, Columbia University.
2021 Sociology Research Support Grant, Columbia University.
2019–2024 Paul F. Lazarsfeld Fellowship, Columbia University.
2014–2018 Hunter R. Rawlings III Cornell Presidential Research Scholar, Cornell University.
2018 Seidman Prize for Research in Collective Bargaining, Labor History, Law, Union Administration and Arbitration, Cornell University.
2017 Chaim and Ida Miller Grant for Labor, Cornell University.
2015 Gertrude Spencer Portfolio Award for Writing, Cornell University.
Publications
* Equal authorship
Habr, Katy* and Hannah Pullen-Blasnik*. (2025). “A Convergence of Crises: Sudden Employment Loss and Black Lives Matter Protest Attendance During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Socius, 11. https://doi-org.ezproxy.cul.columbia.edu/10.1177/23780231251328799
2023 Mayer N. Zald Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Student Paper Award
Publications Under Review and In Progress
Habr, Katy. “A Platform for Change: Deskilling, Reclassification, and the Reorganization of California's Grocery Industry.” Revise & Resubmit Work, Employment and Society.
2024 Labor and Labor Movements Distinguished Student Paper Award
Bronfenbrenner, Kate, Katy Habr, Suresh Naidu, and Victor Yengle. “Union Tactics Still Matter: NLRB Organizing in a Hostile Climate.” (Working Paper)
Habr, Katy. “A Revolution at the Last Mile: E-commerce, New Jobs, and Neo-Taylorism in the Southern California Grocery Industry" (Working Paper)
Habr, Katy. “Understaffed and Overworked: Scheduling and Inequality in Two Union Locals.” (Analysis in Progress)
Habr, Katy, Adam Reich, and Rachel Sherman. “Unions as educators: How workplace conflict and union led political education shape political polarization in the US.” (Analysis in Progress)
Book Chapters
Habr, Katy. “In the Shadow of a Lockout: Proposition 22 and the Gig-ification of Southern California’s Grocery Industry,” forthcoming in The Global Gig Economy and the Local Conditioning of Algorithmic Work, edited by A. Wolf & M. Figueroa. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press.
Other Publications
Habr, Katy. 2018. “Solidarity Not Charity: The University Anti-Sweatshop Movement in the Age of Neoliberal Protest.” Undergraduate Honors Theses. Cornell Digital Repository, Cornell University Library
2018 Seidman Prize for Research in Collective Bargaining, Labor History, Law, Union Administration and Arbitration
Habr, Katy. 2024. “Building Solidarity Across Political Divides: A Conversation with CWA’s Steve Lawton.” Labor Notes.
Conference Presentations
* Presented by coauthor
2025 “Union Tactics Still Matter: NLRB organizing in a hostile climate.” Labor and Employment Relations Association Conference. Topics in Labor and Employment Symposium. Seattle, WA.*
2025 "Unions as educators: How workplace conflict and union led political education shape political polarization in the US.” Eastern Sociological Society Meeting. From Polarization to Solidarity Mini-Conference. Boston, MA.
2024 “A Convergence of Crises: Sudden Employment Loss and Black Lives Matter Protest Attendance During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” New School for Social Research Sociology Graduate Conference: “Crises, Contingencies, Possibilities: Futures of Sociology in an Uncertain Present,” New York, NY.
2022 “The Changing Climate for Union Organizing: 2022 Update.” Washington Center for Equitable Growth Conference, Washington, DC. *
2022 “The Changing Climate for Union Organizing: 2022 Update.” Worker Empowerment Research Network (WERN) Conference, Cambridge, MA. *
2022 “Going the Last Mile: Examining Productivity, Technology, and Precarious Employment in California’s Grocery and Retail Sector.” American Sociological Association Meeting, Regular Session on Labor/ Labor Movements, Los Angeles, CA.
2021 “Going the Last Mile: Examining Productivity, Technology, and Precarious Employment in California’s Grocery and Retail Sector.” New Models for the Worker Voice: Lessons from the Retail Sector, New Social Compact Convening at Georgetown University Kalmanovitz Institute for Labor and the Working Poor, (Online).
Additional Panels and Invited Talks
* Presented by coauthor
2024 “The Overgrowth of Underemployment.” Columbia Labor Lab, INCITE.
2024 “A Convergence of Crises: Sudden Employment Loss and Black Lives Matter Protest Attendance During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” ASA Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Paper Award Winners Panel.
2024 “The Current State and Future of Unions.” Espresso with the Experts Podcast. Columbia University.
2023 “Unionizing on University Campuses.” Cornell ILR School Union Days.
2022 “The Changing Climate for Union Organizing: 2022 Update.” U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor. *
2022 “What Do Faculty and Grad Student Unions Do?” American Sociological Association. Graduate Student Virtual Pro-Seminar.
2018 “Careers in Labor.” Cornell ILR School Career Services Center.
2016 “Cultural Challenges and Global Learning.” Cornell University Internationalization of Curriculum Symposium.
2016 “Student Experiences in Human rights and Capacity Building.” The Cornell Commitment.
Research Experience
2021–Pres Worker Empowerment Research Network (WERN), Cornell University & MIT.
Graduate Research Assistant
2021–Pres Labor Lab, INCITE, Columbia University.
Graduate Research Assistant
2020 Sociology Department, Columbia University.
Graduate Research Assistant
2017–2018 The Worker Institute, Cornell University.
Research Assistant
2016–2017 The Office for Labor Research Education, Cornell University.
Research Assistant
Teaching Experience
Summer 2025 Sociology of Work and Occupations, Sociology Department, Columbia University.
Instructor of Record
Spring 2025 Methods for Social Research, Sociology Department, Barnard University.
Teaching Assistant (Including discussion section)
Fall 2024 Methods for Social Research, Sociology Department, Barnard University.
Teaching Assistant (Including discussion section)
Fall 2022 Methods for Social Research, Sociology Department, Columbia University.
Teaching Assistant (Including discussion section)
Spring 2021 Work and Gender, Sociology Department, Columbia University.
Teaching Assistant
Fall 2020 Social World, Sociology Department, Columbia University.
Teaching Assistant (Including discussion section)
Service
2025 Labor and Labor Movements Distinguished Student Paper Award Committee. ASA Section on Labor and Labor Movements.
2024 Mayer N. Zald Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Student Paper Award Committee. ASA Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements.
2022–2023 Student Workers of Columbia (SWC-UAW 2710), Vice Chair.
2021–Pres Women and Society Seminar, Seminar Rapporteur. University Seminars. Columbia University.
2020–2021 Student Representative for the Sociology Department. Columbia University.
2020–2021 Women in Academia, Co-coordinator. Department of Sociology. Columbia University.
2020–2021 Graduate Student Mentor. Department of Sociology. Columbia University,
2017 The New Conversations Project on Sustainable Labor Practices in Global Supply Chains, Student Representative. Cornell University.
2016–2018 ILR Labor Roundtable, Planning Committee. Cornell University.
2016–2018 ILR Union Days, Planning Committee. Cornell University.
Professional Memberships
American Sociological Association (ASA)
Labor and Labor Movements Section
Economic Sociology Section
Organizations, Occupations, and Work Section
Political Economy of World-Systems Section
Eastern Sociological Association (ESS)
Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA)
Worker Empowerment Research Network (WERN)
Labor Tech Research Network
Professional Development
2021 The Institute for Qualitative and Multi-Method Research (IQMR), Maxwell Institute, Syracuse University.
Professional Experience
2018–2019 United Steelworkers Union, Strategic Campaigns Department and Organizing Department. Pittsburgh, PA.
Research Intern
2017 American Federation of Teachers, Research and Strategic Initiatives Department. Washington, DC.
Research Intern
2016 Solidarity Center, Trade Union Strengthening Department. Washington, DC.
Research Intern
Languages and Skills
Languages: English, Arabic
Skills: R, SPSS, AWS, Excel, Qualtrics