Emerging Issues in Science and Society 2024: Futures of Work
This an in-person, catered event. Only the keynote will be Livestreamed via Youtube. At booking please select online (keynote only) or in-person (catered) tickets.
There is now considerable anxiety about how labour markets are being transformed by technological innovations, ageing populations, climate change and globalisation. The pandemic has also had a significant effect on how work is visualised and done. The World Economic Forum predicts that 85 million jobs will be displaced by 2025 – that is next year! – due to technological advancements. At the same time, it anticipates that 97 million new types of work might be created that will bring about a new division of labour between humans, machines, and algorithms. This will require extensive and on-going reskilling - but learning itself is being transformed rapidly. While economists think about the future of work in terms of labour markets and skills, the implications for individuals and societies are myriad.
How will new futures of work impact us as individuals and societies? What new forms of social relations and hierarchies might these futures produce? How will these futures impact challenges such as climate change? How sustainable are these trends? How will organisational cultures have to adapt? How can equity and wellbeing be promoted? How might Indigenous and vernacular knowledges be mobilised to shape possible futures? Do we need to push back against some of these anticipated trends?
This symposium will examine the theme of the Futures of Work from multiple perspectives and within a variety of fields, inspired by a keynote by Payal Arora, Professor of Inclusive AI Cultures at Utrecht University and Co-Founder of FemLab, on feminist futures of work.
Keynote Speaker Professor Payal Arora
Payal Arora is Professor of Inclusive AI Cultures at Utrecht University, and Co-Founder of FemLab, a feminist futures of work initiative. She is a digital anthropologist and an author, speaker, and consultant. Her expertise draws from more than two decades of user experiences among diverse marginalized communities worldwide to shape inclusive designs and policies. She is the author of award-winning books including ‘The Next Billion Users’ with Harvard Press. Her upcoming book with MIT Press & Harper Collins India, ‘From Pessimism to Promise: Lessons from the Global South on Designing Inclusive Tech” comes out in the summer 2024. Forbes named her the “next billion champion” and “the right kind of person to reform tech.” She has been extensively covered in the international media including by the BBC, Financial Times, The Economist, Quartz, 99% Invisible, Tech Crunch, FAZ, NRC, CBC, The Boston Globe etc. She has consulted on inclusive innovation, feminist design, and AI ethics for diverse organizations such as IDEO, Adobe, Spotify, Google, UNESCO, KPMG, GE, UNHCR, and HP etc. She has given more than 350 talks in 115 cities in 67 countries alongside figures like Jimmy Wales and Steve Wozniak and TEDx talks on the future of the internet and innovation. She sits on several boards for organizations such as the World Women Global Council in New York and has held Fellow positions at GE, ZEMKI, ITSRio, MICA, and NYU and is a Rockefeller Bellagio Resident alumnus. She is Indian, American, and Irish, and is currently based in Amsterdam.
Roundtable: Futures of work: Interdisciplinary Perspectives
An interdisciplinary group of speakers will discuss the theme in a round table discussion moderated by Associate Professor Radhika Gorur.
Debora Lanzeni
Dr Debora Lanzeni is an anthropologist working hard to build a common ground for interdisciplinary tech studies. Her research lies on the intersection of technology, anthropology, design, digital ethnography and future studies. Data, artificial intelligence (AI) and smart cities are key themes in recent years. Debora's interests are focused on the development of emerging technologies and future imaginaries, as well as work regimes and new digital technologies. Recent projects include Transliteracy and Unlocking Digital Assets.
With a PhD and a Master in Knowledge and Information Society (IN3-UOC), a Bachelor in Anthropology and a DEA in Political Anthropology from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Debora trained as a filmmaker and taught for 5 years in Methodology and Media Anthropology in the University of Buenos Aires.
Claire G. Coleman
Claire G. Coleman is a Wirlomin Noongar woman whose ancestral country is on the south coast of Western Australia. Born in Perth she has spent most of her life in Naarm (Melbourne) or on the road. She has written 3 novels Terra Nullius (2017), The Old Lie (2019), and Enclave and a non-fiction book Lies Damned Lies: A personal exploration of the the impact of colonisation (2021). Her art criticism has been published in Spectrum, Artlink and Art Collector and in exhibition catalogues for NGV, AGSA and NGA and others. Her conceptual/video work Refugium won the Incinerator Art Award in 2021 and she is a founding member of The Centre for Reworlding. She writes novels, poetry, short-fiction, drama and essay and has featured in the Saturday Paper, the Guardian, Meanjin, Australian Poetry and many others. Her short fiction and poetry has been published in multiple anthologies.
Melanie Randle
Melanie Randle is a Professor of Marketing in the School of Business at the University of Wollongong. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Administration, a Master of Business (Marketing) and a Doctor of Philosophy. Melanie’s research focuses on applying marketing techniques to change attitudes and behaviours in ways that improve outcomes for individuals and society as a whole. Her research focuses primarily on vulnerable populations and has included studies which aim to increase numbers of volunteers, attract more foster carers, achieve greater inclusion of people with disabilities, encourage pro-environmental behaviours, and reduce gambling harm. She has led large-scale Australian Research Council projects funded through the Discovery and Linkage schemes, and has long-term industry collaborations in the non-profit and government sectors. Melanie has served as a member of the Australian Research Council College of Experts and as Associate Editor for Annals of Tourism Research Empirical Insights. At UOW, her prior roles also include Associate Dean (Research), Associate Dean (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion), Dean of Researcher Development and Integrity and Chair of the Social Sciences Human Research Ethics Committee.
Lambert Brau
Prof Lambert Brau is the Deputy Dean, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment he has previously held the position of Deputy Head of School, School of Life and Environmental Sciences and Associate Head of School (Development and International). His research focusses on soil health, sustainable agriculture and agro-ecology. He works on the physiological, genetic and biochemical basis of plant-microbe interactions and the application of beneficial microbes to enhance crop production in Australian agricultural systems to decrease dependence on chemical fertilizer inputs. Internationally, he works on integrated soil fertility management practices by smallholder farmers to increase yields and farm profitability. With a strong focus on impact, he links with key industries and funding bodies to address critical productivity, environmental and sustainability challenges faced nationally and internationally.
Robin Scott
Industry Professor Robin Scott is an experienced public policy practitioner, including service in the Victorian Government as the Minister for Finance and Multicultural Affairs. He played a central role in the development of Victorian Government’s response to extremism, including the process that led to the establishment of the Centre for Resilient and Inclusive Societies. In his role as Industry Professor at the Alfred Deakin Institute, Robin leads strategic work around impactful partnerships and engagement with end-users bringing his considerable experience influencing public policy and delivering strategic evidence-based decision making to bear.
Moderator
Radhika Gorur
Radhika Gorur is Associate Professor in the School of Education at Deakin University. Her research is in the fields of education and education policy, the sociology of quantification and metrics, and critical data studies. She is interested in the social and political lives of data and in how policies get mobilised, stabilised, circulated and challenged. Her research spans education policy and reform; global aid and development in education; data infrastructures and data cultures; accountability and governance; large-scale comparisons; and the sociology of knowledge. Radhika is a founding director of the Laboratory of International Assessment Studies, convenor of the Deakin Science and Society Network, and a founding member of the international STudieS network. She is an editor of the journal Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education.
Panel: "Youth, Education and the Future of Work: Towards Intergenerational Justice"
Ruth Bridgstock
Professor Ruth Bridgstock is an internationally recognised researcher in graduate employability, education for the future of life and work, and authentic curriculum and pedagogy at Swinburne University. Her particular research expertise and interests relate to fostering future-capability – that is, how students, educators and educational institutions can learn and adapt to rapid and ongoing digital, social, and environmental changes in the 21st century. Her current research interests are focussed on future-capable curriculum, learning and identity development through social networks, interdisciplinary pedagogies, and fostering effective learning partnerships with industry and community. Ruth is Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, TEQSA Expert, AAUT Award winner, and Australian National Senior Teaching Fellow for Graduate Employability 2.0. Her success in Australian competitive grants , industry and public sector funding has translated into more than 70 educational research outputs, with more than 4,000 citations. Her latest books include 'Higher Education and the Future of Graduate Employability' (Edward Elgar), and 'Creative Graduate Pathways Within and Beyond the Creative Industries' (Routledge).
Peter Kelly
As a Professor of Education in the School of Education at Deakin University, Peter Kelly's research focuses on young people, their education, training and employment pathways, and their health and well-being, at a time of profound planetary crises that are emerging at the convergence of the 6th Mass Extinction and the 4th Industrial Revolution. The Young People's Sustainable Futures Lab is a repository for current research project collaborations. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, these interests are framing the development of a research agenda titled: COVID-19 and Young People’s Well-being, Education, Training and Employment Pathways: Scenarios for Young People’s Sustainable Futures. His previous books include: Social Justice in Times of Crisis and Hope: Young People, Wellbeing and the Politics of Education, Re-thinking Young People’s Marginalisation: Beyond Neo-Liberal Futures?, Young People and the Politics of Outrage and Hope, A Critical Youth Studies for the 21st Century; The Self as Enterprise: Foucault and the Spirit of 21st Century Capitalism, and Working in Jamie’s Kitchen: Salvation, Passion and Young Workers.
David Farrugia
David Farrugia is an ARC Future Fellow at Deakin, and a specialist in the areas of youth, citizenship, labour and employment, and rural and regional youth. His research is interdisciplinary spanning the areas of sociology, education, politics and labour studies, exploring the role of youth identity in economic processes, and the position of young workers in contemporary public life. His current projects include 1.) "Young Workers and the Future of Service Employment." This ARC Future Fellowship examines the micro-politics of service employment for young workers, and how precarious work impacts on young people's capacity for social and political participation and 2.) "Youth, Labour and Value in the service Economy." Funded by an ARC Discovery Project, this project explores the role of youth identity in the creation of value in the hospitality industry.
Moderator
Russel Tytler
Russell Tytler is Alfred Deakin Professor and Chair in Science Education at Deakin University, Melbourne. He has a background lecturing and teaching physics. He has researched and written extensively on student learning and reasoning in science. He has been influential on science curricula in Australia and is involved in a range of Department of Education teacher professional learning initiatives. He researches and writes on student engagement with science and mathematics, socio scientific issues and reasoning, school-community partnerships, and STEM curriculum policy and practice. He has been chief investigator on a range of ARC and other projects and is currenly investigating interdisciplinary mathematics and science pedagogy, representing contemporary science R&D in schools to support an informed Climate Change Education, and directing an innovative program for the Victorian DET for out-of-field teachers of science and mathematics. He is a member of the Science Expert Group for PISA 2015 and 2025, represents the OECD on an international STEM skills forum, was deputy chair of the Chief Scientist initiated ‘STEM Country Comparisons’ project and is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.
About Emerging Issues in Science and Society (EISS)
EISS is a flagship event of the Deakin Science and Society Network. This annual symposium focuses on a key social issue that is examined from multiple disciplinary perspectives. It invites and facilitates conversations among key scholars, public intellectuals, and policy makers to generate new ways to think about and address the issue. This year, EISS is supported by Deakin’s Centre for Digital Infrastructures and Interfaces (CDII) and Research for Educational Impact (REDI). It forms part of the 'Festival of Ideas with Payal Arora'.
