Eunice Han

Eunice Han is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Utah, where she has been a faculty member since 2016, first as an Assistant Professor and promoted to Associate Professor in 2024. Her research lies at the intersection of labor economics, industrial relations, and education policy, with a strong focus on unions, inequality, and gender dynamics in the labor market.

She earned her BA in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and her MA and PhD in Economics from Harvard University. Prior to joining the University of Utah, she taught econometrics and principles of economics at Harvard University and Wellesley College.

Her research investigates how institutions like labor unions shape labor market outcomes, particularly in education. She has extensively studied the impact of teacher unions on compensation, job security, attrition, stress, student achievement, and gender equity. Her recent work, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, has demonstrated the protective role of unions for workers in terms of employment stability and wage maintenance. She employs rigorous empirical methods, including difference-in-differences and propensity score matching, using nationally representative datasets.

Her scholarly output is prolific, with numerous publications in high-impact journals such as the British Journal of Industrial Relations, Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Eastern Economic Journal, and Feminist Economics. The consistent themes across her recent articles include the resilience of union benefits during crises, the positive association between unionization and student outcomes, and the disproportionate impact of anti-union policies on women, minorities, and STEM educators.

She is actively involved in the broader academic community, serving on the Academic Advisory Board of the Economic Policy Institute and as a Fellow at the National Educational Policy Center. She has also secured external research funding, including a grant from the Department of Agriculture focused on school food service workers.

Eunice Han teaches courses in labor economics, econometrics, and principles of microeconomics at the University of Utah. She advises PhD students, as evidenced by her involvement in thesis research supervision. Her work continues to contribute significantly to understanding the role of collective bargaining and labor institutions in promoting economic well-being and educational equity.