Marginalization in the Future of Work: The Role of Intersectional Identities and Platforms in the Trajectories of Online Freelancers

This dissertation examines how platforms and identity attributes such as gender, race and occupation mediate individuals’ evolving participation and outcomes in online freelancing. I approach the investigation through an intersectionality lens to build insight into the dynamics of workers’ identity attributes and how these are embedded in online freelancing platforms. The research design draws on a longitudinal panel study with 108 online freelancers, working on Upwork.com. More than 400 interview and survey responses as well as secondary platform data are incorporated in the study’s analysis. Findings illuminate that platforms reinforce and exacerbate gender, race and occupation stereotypes. Data also demonstrate that identity attributes are not mutually exclusive but instead are interrelated and mediated through the platform’s features and terms. Over time, freelancers adjust their platform efforts to navigate their evolving work arrangements and the precarity of online freelancing. Together, the findings contribute to our understanding of 1) the differential experiences of freelancers, 2) how platforms mediate intersectionality and marginalization and 3) the role of online freelancing in workers’ trajectories

Hourly Wages in Crowdworking: A Meta-Analysis

In the past decade, crowdworking on online labor market platforms has become an important source of income for a growing number of people worldwide. This development has led to increasing political and scholarly interest in the wages people can earn on such platforms. This study extends the literature, which is often based on a single platform, region, or category of crowdworking, through a meta-analysis of prevalent hourly wages. After a systematic literature search, the paper considers 22 primary empirical studies, including 105 wages and 76,765 data points from 22 platforms, eight different countries, and 10 years. It is found that, on average, microtasks results in an hourly wage of less than $6. This wage is significantly lower than the mean wage of online freelancers, which is roughly three times higher when not factoring in unpaid work. Hourly wages accounting for unpaid work, such as searching for tasks and communicating with requesters, tend to be significantly lower than wages not considering unpaid work. Legislators and researchers evaluating wages in crowdworking need to be aware of this bias when assessing hourly wages, given that the majority of literature does not account for the effect of unpaid work time on crowdworking wages. To foster the comparability of different research results, the article suggests that scholars consider a wage correction factor to account for unpaid work. Finally, researchers should be aware that remuneration and work processes on crowdworking platforms can systematically affect the data collection method and inclusion of unpaid work

Digital Discrimination in the Sharing Economy: Evidence, Policy, and Feature Analysis

Applications (apps) of the Digital Sharing Economy (DSE), such as Uber, Airbnb, and TaskRabbit, have become a main facilitator of economic growth and shared prosperity in modern-day societies. However, recent research has revealed that the participation of minority groups in DSE activities is often hindered by different forms of bias and discrimination. Evidence of such behavior has been documented across almost all domains of DSE, including ridesharing, lodging, and freelancing. However, little is known about the under- lying design decisions of DSE systems which allow certain demographics of the market to gain unfair advantage over others. To bridge this knowledge gap, in this dissertation, we investigate the problem of digital discrimination from a software engineering point of view. To develop an in-depth understanding of the problem, we first synthesize existing evidence on digital discrimination from interdisciplinary literature. We then analyze online user feedback, available on social media channels, to assess end-users’ awareness of discrimination issues affecting their DSE apps. We then introduce a novel protocol for drafting and evaluating nondiscrimination policies (NDPs) in the DSE market. Our objective is to assist DSE developers with drafting high quality and less ambiguous NDPs. Finally, we propose and evaluate a modeling framework for representing discrimination concerns affecting popular DSE apps along with their relations (synergies and tradeoffs) to other system features and user goals. Our objective is to visualize such complex domain knowledge using formal notations that software developers can easily understand, communicate, and utilize as an integral part of their app design process. The impact of the proposed research will extend to the entire population of DSE workers, targeting the deep racial and regional disparities in the DSE market and helping people in resource-constrained communities to overcome key barriers to participation and adaptation in one of the fastest growing software ecosystems in the world

Designing Individualized Policy and Technology Interventions to Improve Gig Work Conditions

The gig economy is characterized by short-term contract work completed by independent workers who are paid to perform "gigs", and who have control over when, whether and how they conduct work. Gig economy platforms (e.g., Uber, Lyft, Instacart) offer workers increased job opportunities, lower barriers to entry, and improved flexibility. However, growing evidence suggests that worker well-being and gig work conditions have become significant societal issues. In designing public-facing policies and technologies for improving gig work conditions, inherent tradeoffs exist between offering individual flexibility and when attempting to meet all community needs. In platform-based gig work, contractors pursue the flexibility of short-term tasks, but policymakers resist segmenting the population when designing policies to support their work. As platforms offer an ever-increasing variety of services, we argue that policymakers and platform designers must provide more targeted and personalized policies, benefits, and protections for platform-based workers, so that they can lead more successful and sustainable gig work careers. We present in this paper relevant legal and scholarly evidence from the United States to support this position, and make recommendations for future innovations in policy and technology

Korkean osaamisen freelance-alustat: luottamusta rakentavien mekanismien vaikutus huippuosaavien ohjelmistoalan freelancereiden houkuttelemisessa

Freelance economy is growing and platforms intermediating freelance workforce are increasingly utilized in organizations. The market is booming especially in high-skilled services, such as in software development and design, which enable talented freelance software professionals to charge higher prices than they would earn in traditional employment. Therefore, increasing number of highly skilled individuals work as freelancers either independently or through different platforms. Moreover, freelancing provides e.g. better work/life balance, flexibility and autonomy. Freelance platforms are approached due to their ability to provide enhanced matchmaking and build trust between freelancers and companies which is in general, difficult for individual freelancers to do on their own. However, current research has mainly focused on low-skilled freelancing and large online labor platforms that intermediate relatively cheap remotely performed high-skilled freelance work. Additionally, the crucial role of trust building on freelance platforms is lacking comprehensive academic research. This thesis approaches the identified research gap by focusing on providing better understanding of current trends in high-skilled freelance markets and the strategical significance of trust building mechanisms and factors on high-skilled freelance platforms focusing on the top talent. The literature review of this study explores recent research and business literature about freelance economy, high- skilled freelance platforms and trust building on them, whereas the empirical part aims to provide comprehensive overview of trust building mechanisms on high-skilled freelance platforms and factors that drive companies and top freelance software professionals to use platforms. This qualitative case study is conducted by interviewing 6 case companies and 9 high-skilled freelance software professionals. The empirical data is analyzed following the thematic analysis method introduced by Braun and Clarke (2006). The findings of this thesis indicate that platforms implementing the characteristics of tech talent agencies are most likely to attract top freelance software professionals to join the platform. Additionally, this thesis provides a precise categorization of high-skilled freelance platforms and identifies the key trust building mechanisms and factors as well as their interrelations on high-skilled freelance platforms. Finally, a process framework for trust building on high-skilled freelance platforms is presented. The framework provides a new approach for viewing trust building and understanding the interrelations between each trust building mechanisms and factors.Freelance-talous on kasvamassa ja organisaatiot hyödyntävät yhä useammin alustoja, jotka välittävät freelance-työvoimaa. Markkinat kukoistavat erityisesti korkeaa ammattitaitoa vaativissa palveluissa, kuten ohjelmistokehityksessä ja designissa, mikä on mahdollistanut korkeampien hintojen laskuttamisen freelance-työssä kuin perinteisessä työsuhteessa. Sen vuoksi, yhä useammat erittäin ammattitaitoiset yksilöt työskentelevät freelancerina joko itsenäisesti tai erilaisten alustojen kautta. Lisäksi, freelance-työ tarjoaa esimerkiksi paremman työ- ja muun elämän tasapainon, joustavuuden sekä itsenäisyyden. Freelance-alustojen puoleen käännytään, koska ne helpottavat sopivan freelancer/yritys -parin löytämistä ja rakentavat luottamusta freelancereiden ja yritysten välillä. Yleisesti ottaen, luottamuksen rakentaminen yritysten kanssa on yksittäisille freelancereille vaikeaa. Näistä asioista huolimatta, nykyiset tutkimukset ovat pääasiassa keskittyneet matalan osaamisen freelance-työhön sekä online- alustoihin, jotka välittävät suhteellisen halpaa korkean osaamisen freelance-työtä, joka tehdään etänä internetin välityksellä. Lisäksi, luottamuksen rakentamisen kriittistä roolia freelance-alustoissa ei ole tutkittu riittävän kokonaisvaltaisesti. Tämä tutkimus lähestyy tunnistettua tutkimuksellista aukkoa tarjoamalla paremman ymmärryksen nykyisistä trendeistä korkean osaamisen freelance-markkinoilla sekä luottamusta rakentavien mekanismien ja tekijöiden strategisesta merkityksestä korkean osaamisen freelance-alustoissa, jotka keskittyvät huippuosaajiin. Tutkimuksen kirjallisuuskatsaus tarkastelee viimeaikaisia tutkimuksia ja bisneskirjallisuutta, jotka käsittelevät freelance-taloutta, korkean osaamisen freelance-alustoja sekä luottamuksen rakentamista niissä, kun taas empiirinen osuus pyrkii tarjoamaan kattavan yleiskuvan luottamusta rakentavista mekanismeista korkean osaamisen freelance-alustoissa sekä tekijöistä, jotka ajavat yritykset ja huippuosaavat ohjelmistoalan freelancerit käyttämään alustoja. Tämä laadullinen tapaustutkimus on suoritettu haastattelemalla kuutta tapausyritystä ja yhdeksää korkeaa osaamista vaativissa tehtävissä olevaa ohjelmistoalan freelanceria. Empiirinen aineisto on analysoitu noudattamalla teema-analyysimenetelmää, jonka Braun ja Clarke (2006) ovat esitelleet. Tutkimuksen löydökset osoittavat, että todennäköisimmin huippu-freelancereita houkuttelevat alustat, jotka omaksuvat tech talent -agentuurien ominaispiirteet. Lisäksi, tämä tutkimus tarjoaa korkean osaamisen freelance-alustojen täsmällisen luokittelun sekä tunnistaa keskeisimmät luottamusta rakentavat mekanismit ja tekijät, kuten myös niiden väliset suhteet korkean osaamisen freelance- alustoissa. Lopuksi tutkimus esittelee viitekehyksen, joka kuvaa luottamuksen rakentamisen prosessia korkean osaamisen freelance-alustoissa. Viitekehys tarjoaa uuden lähestymistavan luottamuksen rakentamisen tarkasteluun sekä luottamusta rakentavien mekanismien ja tekijöiden keskinäisten suhteiden ymmärtämiseen

Design Your Career - Design Your Life

This research investigates the current plague of unemployment and underemployment that nearly half of qualified individuals in the field of Visual Communications are met with after graduation. Students who major in this field dedicate a tremendous amount of time, money, and energy toward developing a broad skillset that resolves critical matters of communication through visual solutions. Research has demonstrated that despite conditions that are subject to ongoing change of economy, industry, and marketplace there are contributing factors that must be addressed to overcome un/underemployment regardless of circumstances. These include an underdeveloped network of professional contacts, deficiency in recognizing or responding to changing conditions, and a limited ability to customize one’s career around their unique specialization. The purpose of this study is to provide students who major in Visual Communications the information and tools needed to incorporate their ability to adapt and problem solve from their skillset into their search for work. To explore this issue, information was gathered through secondary research that involved data from federal databases, case studies, literature review, and secondary research in general. Return on investment for one’s education is measured in consideration of three primary themes: job satisfaction, income, and quality of life, which may provide hopeful opportunity for professionals in Visual Communications to overcome un/underemployment through career customization

Gender Aspects of Working from Home in Serbia

In this exploratory research, we examined the socio-economic aspects of working from home for men and women in Serbia, their psychosocial adjustment to that work, and especially the differences among Serbian freelancers by gender. In an online survey participated 180 women and 228 men. According to socio-demographic variables, it was determined that women are significantly younger, that they work significantly shorter at home, and that there are significantly fewer of them in predominantly "male" occupations: IT sector, construction, and transport. According to several economic variables, no statistically significant differences were found by gender, except that women are significantly more likely to be guided by a good business idea and higher earnings when starting a business at home, and more often consult a psychologist when in crisis. No statistically significant differences were found in terms of psychosocial adjustment, but also among men and women - freelancers, with some minor exceptions. Based on the analysis of the content of three types of questionnaires, the social profiles of women and men working at (from) home are described. In the final part of the study, unexpectedly similar research results by gender were elabourated in detail

Understanding the Careers of IT Freelancers on Digital Labor Platforms

Online freelancing as an alternative working form increasingly gains prominence in research and practice. Here, independent workers offer services on digital labor platforms. While the general understanding of this form of work increases, IT work performed in this form is not fully understood. Especially the collaborative nature of IT work and the high, rapidly changing skill level required, affects the career development of IT freelancers. Therefore, this study aims to understand how the careers of IT freelancers evolve. To answer our research question, we conduct an exploratory analysis of twelve IT freelancers on a digital labor platform. We develop an IT freelancing career process model. Furthermore, we outline advancement and decline mechanisms and different exit options from the digital labor platform. We also illustrate the role of IT freelancer teams. Our findings thus contribute to the body of knowledge on IT work and alternative work forms on digital labor platforms

21st Century Cottage Industry - A cross-case synthesis of freelancer intermediary platforms

The purpose of this study was to identify possible archetypes of freelancer intermediary platforms. Though there is growing interest towards platforms, classification of platforms stops when it is classified as a transaction, innovation, integrated or some other platform. However, this approach doesn’t account for the variation within these categories. Given the young population's interest towards freelancing and the estimated size of the platform economy as a whole ($4300 Bn.) and the number of freelancer intermediaries (250-300), attempting to identify the subtypes of freelancer intermediary platforms was deemed a worthy endeavor. Finding these subtypes of intermediary platforms or archetypes of freelancer intermediaries has both academic and practical implications. For academics, these archetypes will contribute to the growing body of platform literature by giving it new units of analysis and by creating reasonable categorization. For people interested in utilizing a freelancer intermediary platform either as a seller or a buyer, this thesis offers solid knowledge of the intermediary platforms functions and features as well as what to expect when joining one. The research design is built on principles of embedded and flexible multiple-case study and cross-case synthesis. When describing a contemporary phenomenon, a multiple-case study produces more robust results when the weight of one case decreases. The cross-case synthesis was one of the few viable options given the study’s lack of dependent and independent variables. These variables were unavailable because no beforehand information on what the archetypes could be was available. For this reason, this study adapted analytical methods of grounded theory. The study identified four archetypes of freelancer intermediary platforms: the locals, two for the price of one, the middle child and the global juggernauts. Locals focus on physical services that are dependent on freelancers’ location. Two for the price of one are small platforms that charge only one side be it, seller or buyer. The middle child is very similar to global juggernauts in other aspects but the size and is a necessary phase in the platform’s maturation. Global juggernauts are the biggest platforms and the industry leaders that have significant network and trust management systems in place. Archetypes form a solid foundation on which future research on freelancer intermediaries can be based on

The Past Decade View of the IS Workforce and Gender Literature: A Systematic Review

Due to the demand of Information Systems (IS) professionals, gender in the IS workforce (ISWF) has been a continuing research topic. Despite these efforts, there remains a need for a greater understanding of gender theory and an individual’s decision to pursue, succeed, and obtain promotion within the IS workforce. This research uses a systematic literature review process to critically examine the research from the last decade on gender and the ISWF. A conceptual model, ISWF Multi-Factor Model, is introduced combining IS and vocational guidance theories to categorize the focus of research identified in the systematic literature review into four areas: Individual, Workforce, Individual Influences, and Environmental Influences. The findings of this study outline the current state of gender and ISWF research and is relevant to research and practice