PhD Candidate Recognized as a Top Storyteller by SSHRC
Kam Phung, PhD Candidate in Organization Studies, has been named one of this year’s Top 25 Storytellers by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) in its annual research communications challenge.
In his video submission, Phung tells the story of Uber’s entry into Toronto and its concurrent impact on the taxi driving occupation, highlighting how portrayals in the media stratified the occupation materially and symbolically at the cost of incumbent taxi drivers. Upon Uber’s entry into Toronto’s taxi driving industry, its affiliation with technology and the sharing economy created ambiguity surrounding what Uber was and enabled key members of society to perceive and portray Uber drivers as distinct from taxi drivers despite the two engaging in the same work.
Phung’s submission was based on a SSHRC-funded study by him and his four co-authors, all of whom earned their PhDs at the Schulich School of Business. The study was recently published in the Journal of Management Studies.
SSHRC’s annual Storytellers competition challenges postsecondary students from across the country to tell a research story (in up to three minutes or 300 words) of how SSHRC-funded research is making a difference in the lives of Canadians.
“I’m thrilled to be recognized by SSHRC as one of this year’s Storytellers as it will serve as a launchpad to share our findings in an accessible way with a broader audience,” Phung said.