The Changing Relationship between Supervisors and Subordinates: How Managing This Relationship Evolves over Time

Understanding how the relationship between a subordinate and manager develops over time has been a critical matter both for academics and for business. In both academic journals and industry publications, some writers have argued that the relationship is driven by perceptions of fairness and treatment, and that developing the relationship can lead to better performance. Others have argued that higher performers get better treatment and resources, which results in superior relationships with their managers. There is really no clear answer of what comes first—perceptions of fairness, satisfaction with the supervisor, or job performance—and which leads to which.

Effects of Unionization on Graduate Student Employees: Faculty-Student Relations, Academic Freedom, and Pay

In cases involving unionization of graduate student research and teaching assistants at private U.S. universities, the National Labor Relations Board has, at times, denied collective bargaining rights on the presumption that unionization would harm faculty-student relations and academic freedom. Using survey data collected from PhD students in five academic disciplines across eight public U.S. universities, the authors compare represented and non-represented graduate student employees in terms of faculty-student relations, academic freedom, and pay. Unionization does not have the presumed negative effect on student outcomes, and in some cases has a positive effect. Union-represented graduate student employees report higher levels of personal and professional support, unionized graduate student employees fare better on pay, and unionized and nonunionized students report similar perceptions of academic freedom. These findings suggest that potential harm to faculty-student relationships and academic freedom should not continue to serve as bases for the denial of collective bargaining rights to graduate student employees.