Research Scientist

About the Opportunity
The organization
Plural Connections is an interdisciplinary research and action lab based at Northeastern University that explores how computational and design-based methods can help advance pluralism: a positive response to diversity in society. Our mission is to use tools from data science and design to promote educational, economic, and social well-being by fostering inclusive connections across lines of difference.
Given this broad mission, our group works across a number of topics and domains, with a particular focus on:
Inclusive education — We explore how data and technology can help embed learners of all ages in networks full of resources, social capital, wisdom, and diverse ways of thinking to help them pursue trajectory-altering, quality education.
Mindful media consumption and sharing — What we read and share on digital communications platforms shapes our biases, beliefs, and actions in “the real world”. We explore how we might foster more reflective, mindful media consumption and sharing to replace polarization with curiosity and compassion for those who are different from us.
You can learn more about past and ongoing projects
here
, and more about our team
here
.
What you’ll be working on
You will help drive the design, development, and evaluation of a new sociotechnical system for facilitating community engagement around changing school attendance boundaries in ways that seek to foster more diverse and integrated schools. Despite nearly 70 years since legally-mandated racial integration in US schools, schools remain highly segregated due to a number of factors, adversely affecting the life outcomes of millions of children. Our early work on this topic has used algorithms to show that it may be possible to design policies that could foster more integrated schools without significantly disrupting families’ day-to-day experiences, e.g., through longer travel times to schools (more
here
).
We are now working with several school districts to translate this work into practice. One enduring gap continues to be the existence of tools, frameworks, and systems for supporting constructive community engagement around student assignment policymaking. Boundary changes are highly political and contentious. Community engagement processes often elevate the loudest voices. Sometimes, these processes can devolve into polarized/toxic discussions that ultimately impede the passage of equity-promoting student assignment policies. We are therefore aiming to develop and test new engagement systems for community members—especially those from traditionally underrepresented and “underheard” groups—to share their voices and views on potential policies, so that districts design and ultimately implement initiatives that reflect both what the community wants and what might advance broader social objectives. Technology can’t solve this problem alone, but we believe that technology—couched in an appropriate socio-technical infrastructure—might help address some of these challenges.
The successful applicant to this role will help drive both the design, strategy, and execution of this socio-technical system in collaboration with one or more school district collaborators.

Qualifications

• Passion for education and advancing more equitable life outcomes
• Passion for using data, technology, and design to address seemingly intractable social challenges
• Comfort with using Python (including Pandas) to manipulate and analyze large datasets
• Experience with building, deploying, and maintaining full-stack web applications
• Experience with full-stack web dev languages like ReactJS (frontend) and Flask (backend), or similar
• Intellectual curiosity … you aren’t afraid to ask for help, but you also relish exploring independently to figure out bugs/challenges and learn about new topics

What you’ll get from us

• Chance to be part of a new startup research lab trying to use advanced technological and computational methods for social good
• Mentorship from a diverse team of researchers, engineers, and designers with experiences in top-tier companies and academic settings
• Chance to drink from the firehose in terms of building new technological and academic skills … given we are a start up, there’s going to be a lot of opportunity to dabble in different parts of the broader project!
• Chance to materially influence how our lab operates, in order to shape the educational opportunities of children and families around the US (and, through research publications, perhaps even the world)

This job will be located on the Northeastern University Campus, Boston, MA (with flexible hybrid / work from home options).
The successful candidate will be classified as a full-time, benefits-eligible Research Scientist at Northeastern University. The Fellowship will last for one year (May 2024 through April 2025), with potential possibilities to extend afterwards.
Position Type
Research
Additional Information
Northeastern University considers factors such as candidate work experience, education and skills when extending an offer.
Northeastern has a comprehensive benefits package for benefit eligible employees. This includes medical, vision, dental, paid time off, tuition assistance, wellness & life, retirement- as well as commuting & transportation. Visit
https://hr.northeastern.edu/benefits/
for more information.
Northeastern University is an equal opportunity employer, seeking to recruit and support a broadly diverse community of faculty and staff. Northeastern values and celebrates diversity in all its forms and strives to foster an inclusive culture built on respect that affirms inter-group relations and builds cohesion.
All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
To learn more about Northeastern University’s commitment and support of diversity and inclusion, please see
www.northeastern.edu/diversity

Please refer the Job description for details