Northwestern University

Position Title/Short Description

Full Text of JOE Listing:

The Human Development and Social Policy (HDSP) program at Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy (SESP) invites applications for a faculty position (assistant or associate level) whose work advances understanding of institutions, organizations, and social policy as these multi-level dynamics of emergence, implementation, persistence, and change shape human development and well-being across the lifespan.

SESP is an interdisciplinary school focused on understanding teaching, learning, development, and policy throughout systems and across the lifespan. The successful candidate will maintain a rigorous research program on organizational and institutional dynamics related to social policy and the relationship between and among these dynamics and human development. We are particularly interested in scholars whose work engages one or more of the following:

Policy design, emergence, implementation, or institutionalization, and their effects on individuals, families, communities, professions, or societal sectors.
Organizational dynamics within and among sectors that shape human development and well-being across the life-span, such as schools and education systems, human service organizations and related systems, housing, or other societal domains
How organizations and institutions shape social and structural influences on health, education, and human development.
How interpersonal, social, or organizational networks emerge, shape and/or influence individual and organizational outcomes within social or policy-relevant geographies or domains.

We welcome applicants trained in sociology, economics, history, political science, social policy, organizational behavior, education, and related disciplines who bring theoretical and empirical depth to these issues. Successful candidates will be expected to teach and advise both undergraduate and graduate students in broad survey courses related to organizations, institutions, and social policy. Applicants with expertise in quantitative, computational, and/or qualitative approaches are welcome, and we are especially interested in scholars with expertise in social network analysis, mixed methods, and comparative approaches.

Applicants should submit via the online system a letter outlining their research program and teaching experience, a current CV, representative papers, and three contacts for letters of reference. Letters can be addressed to James Spillane, Search Committee Chair.

Review of materials will begin on November 6, 2026. Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit their materials before that date. For more information about the School of Education and Social Policy, please visit http://www.sesp.northwestern.edu/.