Researching With Workers

Workshop Description:

This workshop explores a Research Justice approach to conducting research with workers, grounded in the belief that workers are experts whose lived experiences, ideas, and analysis are essential to understanding workplace conditions and advancing change. Research with workers creates opportunities to generate richer knowledge, strengthen worker leadership, and connect research directly to organizing, advocacy, and collective action. Drawing from previous UCLA Labor Center research projects, participants will engage with practical approaches to involving workers throughout the research process—from developing research questions and designing surveys or focus groups to collectively interpreting findings and translating research into action. The workshop will highlight interactive and accessible methods, such as participatory data discussions and gallery walks that help bring research findings to life and create deeper engagement with the research.

Workshop Leaders:

Lucero Herrera is a Senior Research Analyst at the UCLA Labor Center, where she leads community-engaged research on workers across key industries in California. Her work uses mixed-methods approaches to examine working conditions and the experiences of workers in sectors including domestic work, homecare, janitorial services, nail salons, retail, and food production. She also teaches in the UCLA Labor Summer Research Program (LSRP), where she mentors students in applied labor research and Research Justice, with a focus on workers and learners—students who work while attending college. She holds a Master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from UCLA and a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Chicago.
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