معرفی
Jihee Woo is an Assistant Professor in the College of Social Work at the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities campus). Her research focuses on economic justice, labor conditions, and material hardship among vulnerable worker populations, particularly in healthcare settings.
Dr. Woo's research interests include:
- Material hardship and economic security
- Low-wage workers and living wage policies
- Hospital and service sector workers' conditions
- Wage increases and their impact on workers' well-being
- Ethics of care in service work
- Healthcare workforce economics
Her recent publications demonstrate a strong methodological approach combining quantitative analyses (including latent class regression) with qualitative investigations of workers' experiences. A significant portion of her work examines whether working full-time actually guarantees material well-being for service workers in healthcare settings, revealing complex relationships between employment status, wages, and basic needs fulfillment. Her research contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to reducing inequality and promoting decent work.
Dr. Woo has established a productive research trajectory with eight publications from 2021-2024. Her work has received academic citations and social media attention, particularly her studies on hospital service workers' material hardship and the Pittsburgh Wage study that examines how research can be used to build worker power. Her collaborations with researchers like Shook, Goodkind, Ballentine, and Engel indicate her integration within a network focused on labor issues and economic justice in social work scholarship.
