Professor Mark Williams

Profile

Roles:

• Professor of Human Resource Management
• REF Lead for the School of Business and Management 
• Member of the Department of People and Organisations
• Member of the Computational and Quantitative Methods Research Cluster
• Member of the Centre for Research in Equality and Diversity

Biography:

Mark Williams is a Professor of Human Resource Management in the School of Business and Management.

Mark is a quantitative social scientist researching inequalities in working conditions in the United Kingdom.

Much of his work has been on charting disparities within and between occupations and social classes, with recent research also covering socio-economic background, ethnicity, and sex. His research has spanned disparities in pay, payment systems, zero-hours contracts, autonomy, as well as overall job quality and job attitudes, with recent research exploring the role of regulatory institutions on these themes.

Mark joined QMUL in 2019. Prior to QMUL, he held posts at the University of Surrey and the London School of Economics. He undertook his undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral training at the London School of Economics and the University of Oxford.

Teaching

Undergraduate

BUS320: Employment Relations

Research

Research Interests:

• Social stratification
• Pay
• Job quality
• Measurement of socio-economic background, social class, occupations, and working conditions

Centre and Group Membership:

• Member of the Centre for Research in Equality and Diversity (CRED)
• Member of the Computational and Quantitative Methods (CQM) Research Cluster

Grants, Contracts and Awards

I have been Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on research grants and contracts gratefully received from numerous organisations including the UKRI/ESRC, Norwegian Research Council, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Department for Business and Trade, Department of Health and Social Care, British Academy, and trade union, amounting to several millions in total.

Publications

• Williams, M., S. Wang, and M. Koumenta (2024). ‘Ethnicity disparities in job control in the United Kingdom’. Industrial Relations Journal, 55(1): 33-53.
• Zhou, Y., M. Zou, and M. Williams (2024). ‘Downward occupational mobility and job satisfaction: When does it hurt less?’, European Sociological Review, forthcoming.
• Zou, M., Y. Zhou, and M. Williams (2024). ‘In search of the ‘buffering effect’ in the job demands–control model: The role of teamwork, HRM practices, and occupations’, Economic and Industrial Democracy, 45(1): 6-28.
• Williams, M. (2024). Analysis of Pay Trends in the Civil Service. London: Public and Commercial Services Union.
• Williams, M., J. Gifford, and Y. Zhou (2022). ‘Social stratification in meaningful work: Occupational class disparities in the United Kingdom’, British Journal of Sociology, 73(3): 536-553.
• Koumenta, M. and M. Williams (2022). ‘Tougher licensing requirements and quality outcomes: driving instructors in the United Kingdom’ in M. Koumenta and M. Kleiner (Eds.) Grease Or Grit? International Case Studies of Occupational Licensing and Its Effects on Efficiency and Quality. Kalamazoo, MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
• Woodhams, C., M. Williams, J. Dacre, I. Parnerkar, and M. Sharma (2021). ‘A retrospective observational study of ethnicity-gender pay gaps among hospital and community health service doctors in England’, British Medical Journal Open, 11(12): e051043.
• Zhou, Y., M. Zou, C-H. Wu, and M. Williams (2021). ‘When is the grass greener on the other side? A longitudinal study of the joint effect of occupational mobility and personality on the honeymoon‐hangover experience during job change’, Journal of Organizational Behavior, 42(4): 551–566.
• Williams, M., Y. Zhou, and M. Zou (2021). ‘Differentiation in pay for performance within organizations: An occupational perspective’, International Journal of Manpower, 42(4): 537-555.
•  Williams, M., Y. Zhou, and M. Zou (2020). Mapping Good Work: The Quality of Working Life Across the Occupational Structure. Bristol: Bristol University Press.
• Williams, M. (2020). Mapping Good Work: Policy Briefing. Bristol University Press/Transforming Society.
•  Williams, M. (2020). A ‘Good Work recovery’ is key to unlocking Britain’s productive potential. Bristol University Press/Transforming Society.
• Williams, M., Y. Zhou, and M. Zou (2020). ‘The rise in pay for performance among higher managerial and professional occupations in Britain’, Work, Employment and Society, 34(4): 604-625.
• Williams, M. and M. Koumenta (2020). ‘Occupational closure and job quality: The case of occupational licensing in Britain’, Human Relations, 73(5): 711-736.
• Williams, M., Y. Zhou, and M. Zou (2020). The CIPD Good Work Index. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
• Williams, M. (2020). Coronavirus class divide – the jobs most at risk of contracting and dying from COVID-19. The Conversation.
• Woodhams, C., M. Williams, I. Laliotis, et al. (2020). Independent Review of the Gender Pay Gap in Medicine in England. London: Department of Health and Social Care.
• Koumenta, M. and M. Williams (2019). ‘An Anatomy of zero-hours contracts in the United Kingdom’, Industrial Relations Journal, 50(1): 20-40.
• Williams, M. (2019). Gender Analysis of Pay and Employment in the Civil Service. London: Public and Commercial Services Union.
• Williams, M. (2019). Civil Service Pay Trends. London: Public and Commercial Services Union.
• Williams, M., Y. Zhou, and M. Zou (2019). Differentiation in Pay for Performance Within Organizations: An Occupational Perspective. AOM Annual Meeting Proceedings Boston.
• Williams, M. and T. Bol (2018). ‘Occupations and the wage structure: The role of occupational tasks in Britain’, Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 53: 16-25.
• Williams, M. (2018). ‘Understanding the efficacy of financial participation across Europe: The role of country-level factors’, Economic and Industrial Democracy, 39(2):195–227.
• Williams, M. and E. Gardiner (2018). ‘The power of personality at work: Core self-evaluations and earnings in the United Kingdom’, Human Resource Management Journal, 28(1): 45–60.
• Chen, Y. and M. Williams (2018). ‘Subjective Social status in transitioning China: Trends and determinants’, Social Science Quarterly, 99(1): 406–422.
• Koumenta, M. and M. Williams (2018). Regulatory Effects of Occupational Licensing on Driving Instructors in the UK, European Commission.
• Williams, M. (2018). Field of work determines pay, and increasingly so. Work In Progress, American Sociological Association.
• Williams, M. (2017). ‘Occupational stratification in contemporary Britain: Occupational Class and the wage structure in the wake of the Great Recession’, Sociology, 51(6): 1299-1317.
• Zhou, Y., M. Zou, M. Williams, and V. Tabvuma (2017). ‘Is the grass greener on the other side? A longitudinal study of the impact of occupation change on employee job satisfaction’, Journal of Vocational Behavior, 99: 66–78.
• Williams, M. (2017). ‘An old model of social class? Job characteristics and the NS-SEC schema’, Work, Employment and Society, 31(1): 153-165.
• Hodder, A., M. Williams, J. Kelly, and N. McCarthy (2017). ‘Does strike action stimulate union membership growth?’ British Journal of Industrial Relations, 55(1): 165–186.
• Booth, J., D. Lup, and M. Williams (2017). ‘Union membership, free-riders, and charitable giving in the United States’, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 70(4): 835-864.
• Williams, M. and Y. Zhou (2017). Paying for performance in Britain: Does the type of job matter? CIPD ARC.
• Williams, M. (2017). Civil Service Pay Trends 2007 to 2016. London: Public and Commercial Services Union.
• Williams, M. (2016). ‘What Do Unions No Longer Do? Book Review’, Work, Employment and Society, 30(1): 202-204.
• Chen, Y. and M. Williams (2016). ‘Subjective wellbeing in the New China’, British Journal of Sociology, 67(4): 719-746.
• Koumenta, M. and M. Williams (2016). An Anatomy of Zero-Hours Contracts in the United Kingdom. CIPD ARC.
• Williams, M. and E. Gardiner (2016). The Power of Personality in the New Economy: Core Self-Evaluations and Earnings in the United Kingdom. CIPD ARC.
• Williams, M. (2013). ‘Occupations and British wage inequality, 1970s-2000s’, European Sociological Review, 29(4): 841-857.
• Booth, J. and M. Williams (2013). ‘Union members are more likely to give to charity, and to give more when they do’, LSE American Politics and Policy Blog.
• Williams, M. (2012). ‘British wage inequality: what occupation you have has never mattered so much’, LSE British Politics and Policy Blog.
• Gallie, D., M. Williams, and H. Inanc (2009). The Vulnerability of the Unskilled Across Europe.
• Williams, M. (2009). How Does the Workplace Affect the Quality of Employment? London: Department for Business Innovation and Skills.
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Supervision

Areas of Supervision Expertise:

I am interested in hearing from potential doctoral researchers who would like to carry out quantitative research in the broad area of the quality of employment (e.g., pay, hours, job insecurity, job control, wellbeing, etc.).

I am especially interested in hearing about projects making use of nationally representative survey or administrative data to explore disparities in this area (e.g., by socio-economic background, occupation, class, ethnicity, age, or sex, etc.).

My expertise is on the United Kingdom and China, but I am happy to consider proposals concerning Anglophone or European countries, and potentially, countries in East/South-East Asia too.

Note the University offers a variety of scholarships for doctoral study.

Please get in touch with me directly if you would like to discuss an idea or a proposal.

Please note I will not consider proposals (as first supervisor) that are removed from my main substantive and geographical areas of interest, or are majority qualitative.

Current Doctoral Students:

1st Supervisor

• Rebecca Florisson, 'Path dependence in career mobility: The effect of precarious early work experience on career trajectories over the life course'

• Lan Lu, The impact of China's increasing work overtime problem on Chinese employees.

2nd Supervisor

• Ying Cui, Social Returns to Education: Evidence from China.

Public Engagement

I have acted as an Advisor or presented research to various government departments in the UK (e.g., Social Mobility Commission, ONS, DB&T, Cabinet Office, DH&SC, and the ONS) and internationally (e.g., European Commission). My research has been cited by most national newspapers/broadcasters, in various policy documents, and I have even been personally named by Members of Parliament in House of Commons debates on a few of occasions in reference to my research.

My chief contributions have been (i) mapping disparities in the quality of jobs across occupations and classes; and (ii) related measurement, classification, and data collection issues (e.g., socio-economic background, occupational classifications, NS-SEC, working conditions scales, etc.).

A recent project, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, explored some of these themes, and is summarised in Mapping Good Work.

Outside of QMUL, I am an Associate Editor at the British Journal of Industrial Relations, a member of the ESRC Peer Review College, Affiliated Member of the Future of Work Research Centre at the University of Surrey, an external examiner at LSE, and an Academic Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. I previously served terms on the Associate Editorial and Editorial Boards at Work, Employment and Society and on the Editorial Board at Human Relations.