I took part in a research project titled “Contracting Global Policymaking: The Shifting Politics of Global Governance,” under the guidance of Professor Vincent Pouliot. This project delves into the increasing reliance on contractual and fixed-term employment within international organizations, particularly UN entities. This trend reflects a significant transformation where global policymakers are increasingly hired on a contractual basis rather than as traditional employees. Specifically, I focused on examining the evolution of contract modalities across various UN organizations from 2000 to 2022. This involved analyzing trends in fixed-term and temporary staff appointments, as well as assessing the organizations’ dependence on non-staff personnel and extra-budgetary funding. The primary objective was to understand how these shifts influence international organizations’ operational dynamics and decision-making processes. Additionally, I conducted in-depth research on a case-study basis of specific organizations like WHO and UNOPS, as well as specific consultancy firms involved with the UN, such as PwC and Deloitte.
I decided to participate in ARIA to gain hands-on experience as a research assistant and contribute to a comprehensive research project while receiving mentorship from both the Arts Faculty Office and my supervisor, Professor Pouliot. My primary learning objectives included discovering and practicing qualitative research methods while gaining a deeper understanding of international relations and international organizations, which were areas I didn’t get to explore much during my undergraduate political science degree.
One of the most enriching aspects of this ARIA project was the collaborative environment I participated in, both within our team of research assistants and in our close collaboration with our supervisor. Working alongside graduate and undergraduate research assistants allowed us to exchange ideas, provide each other with valuable feedback, and benefit from second opinions on our research. Dividing the work among us also required a high level of organization. Additionally, Professor Pouliot’s guidance was key in helping us understand and interpret UN official documents, identify patterns, and integrate them into our analyses. A highlight of this environment was learning research methods from each other, especially from Scott, who taught us how to apply machine learning methods to analyze textual data. This new skill significantly enhanced our research capabilities.
Throughout the project, I encountered several challenges, including data scarcity, inconsistencies in data sources, and the lack of statistically significant results. Additionally, we struggled to reach out to UN representatives, which added to the difficulties we encountered in collecting qualitative information and obtaining additional data for our research. Ultimately, this made me rethink my perspective on global governance, which may not be as transparent and documented as expected. In this context, I also learned that the lack of data may sometimes be as telling as its abundance. Nevertheless, overcoming these obstacles taught me invaluable lessons about resilience in research. For instance, we addressed data limitations by creatively aggregating and integrating available data into our analyses and exploring alternative research avenues suggested by our findings.
Participating in the ARIA project has influenced my educational path and career aspirations. It solidified my ambition to pursue a graduate thesis-oriented program, delving deeper into complex issues in policymaking. However, my future emphasis will lean more towards public and national policy rather than international governance. Importantly, this experience clarified my career objectives. While I deeply value research, I would like to take on a position delivering direct, tangible impacts outside academia. While I aim to integrate research and evidence-based insights into public policymaking processes, the transferable skills and methods I learned throughout this internship will be invaluable.
Looking ahead, I am grateful for the opportunity provided by this ARIA experience, which enriched my academic journey, clarified my professional ambitions, and put me in contact with incredible people. This experience would not have been possible without Professor Pouliot, whom I thank for his mentorship and enthusiasm in this project. Additionally, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Mr. Eric Maldoff, Mr. Gerry Maldoff, and Mrs. Barbara Maldoff for their generous support.
