UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON ARCHIVES
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

Interview #696
VOOS, PAULA B.

VOOS, Paula B. (1949- )
Director, Industrial Relations Research Institute; Associate Professor, Department of Economics and IRRI
At UW: 1981-1998

Interviewed: 2004	
Interviewer: Charlotte Frascona
Length: 50 minutes

Educational background; Industrial Relations Research Institute; Directorship of the IRRI; Strengths and weaknesses of the IRRI.

Interview Session (November 12, 2004): Tape 1

Tape 1/Side 1

00:00:20	Paula Voos describes her educational background, which includes a PhD in economics from Harvard.  She goes on to describe her current research on the representation of supervisors and lower-level management in unions.

00:02:20	PV joined the Industrial Relations Research Institute (IRRI) in 1981 as an assistant professor to replace Jack Barbash.  She decided to come to UW on the strength of the IRRI's reputation.

00:04:02	She discusses the strengths of the IRRI, including its committed faculty and high-profile alumni.

00:05:05	PV served as director of the IRRI from 1993 to 1998.  She thinks that the presence of the School for Workers as well as strong sociology and economics departments on campus enriched the curriculum of the IRRI.

00:08:26	The inability of the IRRI to replace premier faculty who had retired weakened the program.  The interdisciplinary nature of the IRRI--which meant that it did not have departmental status or autonomy over hiring and the budget--contributed to this weakness.  She goes on to draw distinctions between the IRRI and the industrial relations program at Rutgers University.

00:18:13	The decline of the labor movement has hurt industrial relations programs across the nation.

00:18:50	PV characterizes the relationship between the IRRI and the economics department. Originally, institutional economics and industrial relations professors worked closely together; federal intervention in labor issues helped to stimulate an expansion in academic interest in industrial relations.

00:22:55	She describes the international and comparative component of the IRRI curriculum.

00:25:09	PV left UW for Rutgers because she knew that the IRRI was a "sinking ship."  

00:29:02	She thinks that the institutional structure of the IRRI--that is, its interdisciplinary as opposed to its departmental structure--was a fatal flaw for the program.

00:31:22	End of side.

Tape 1/Side 2

00:31:29	Paula Voos continues to talk about the weaknesses of the Industrial Relations Research Institute (IRRI).

00:36:22	She recalls some efforts to save the IRRI, including Gerald Somers' attempt to departmentalize the program.

00:38:41	PV criticizes UW administrators for failing to commit resources to the IRRI.

00:39:47	She mentions several labor issues that continue to demand scholarly and public policy attention.

00:45:07	PV discusses her dissertation on union organization.

00:46:58	She mentions her participation in the Dunlop Commission to recommend reform of labor laws during the Clinton administration.

00:47:40	Although she had hoped to major in economics as an undergraduate, gender discrimination forced her to study English instead.

00:48:32	PV relates her work for a trade journal. She talks about the impact of unions on social and family life while she grew up in Washington State.

00:50:38	End of side.  End of tape.  End of interview.
END