This summer, I worked on an ARIA project titled “Growth of a limited-term work structure at the United Nations: Origins, Politics, and Current Situation.” The project saught to understand how work organization inside the United Nations has evolved over the past 50 years or so, from the dominance of continuous appointments, such as lifelong international civil servants, to a much larger role played by limited-term contracts. There is a growing phenomenon of limited-term contracts, also called global policy makers for hire. Formed by three parts, the report aimed to trace the evolution over time, grasp the politics involved, and capture the current situation. Part 1 involved building on the official documentation available to document how the phenomenon came about and creating novel statistics to track the rise of a global “consultocracy.” Part 2 looked at the political issues and the contention behind limited term hires. Part 3 analysed how limited-term contracting currently works at the UN in constructing practices of hiring non-regular staff for key jobs.
I was interested in an ARIA project to gain specific mentorship and to engage in academic research in a field I had experience in. Prior to the ARIA project, I worked a government job in international relations and a museum job related to geopolitics, both of which piqued my interest in global governance and international politics. Before potentially applying to graduate school, I wanted to confirm my interests in academia and specifically determine my interests. This opportunity with Professor Pouliot combined my ambitions with my interests, allowing me to gain further insight into the academic research process. My learning objectives included learning to read reports for their political implications and applying network analysis. This, alongside learning the jargon of United Nations documents, greatly contributed to my analytical ability and research methods.
Highlights of this project include the very specific mentorship for the topic and gaining further insight on how to research and compile large amounts of information. My supervising professor was able to teach me how to understand political documents, extract political implications, and attach theories to tangible data. Additionally, I was able to see first-hand how he conducts research, and in doing so, I was able to learn better research techniques and organizational skills. Through our weekly meetings, I felt that I was getting significant mentorship on academic practices that enhanced my ability to perform the tasks necessary.
Some challenges I experienced included information access. My main tasks at one point involved tracking consultant data in the United Nations through United Nations resolutions, reports by the Secretary General, and more documents found in the United Nations Official Documents System. I learned that the data can be quite inconsistent and that the politics of global governance are not as clearly documented or evidenced as I had thought. I came across barriers such as formatting and difficulty accessing certain information due to lack of UN organization, which made it difficult to simply collect the information. However, I also learned how to aggregate incomplete evidence and find its implications from other sources. It involved looking toward different forms of documentation and pivoting to find different figures from various sources. Further, overcoming these challenges also involved finding support to make sure I was on the right track.
ARIA has reaffirmed my interests in research and contributing to academia. As I am entering my last year of my undergraduate studies, the ARIA process has confirmed my desire to continue with education and academic output. I believe that I learned pertinent research and analytical skills that I otherwise would have needed to develop later on and will be applicable to my studies. I also hope to later contribute to ground-breaking research and be able to provide commentary to important shifts in holding global governance accountable. This process has made me confident in my future career and education path, knowing that I can not only perform research, but also derive curiosity and enjoyment from it.
This project, however, would not have been possible without the generosity of many parties. I would like to thank Professor Vincent Pouliot whose mentorship and excitement has not only made this project memorable but has confirmed my confidence to continue with a career in academia. I would also like to also thank Mr. Harry Samuel for his generosity and for making this experience possible. I am very thankful for this opportunity and how it helped me grow both academically and personally.
