Undergraduate Academic Assistant

University of British Columbia; Kelowna; On-site; CAD 25,000 - 36,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of British Columbia Okanagan is seeking an Undergraduate Academic Assistant to support a socio-cultural-ecological study of violent behavior. You will perform literature searches, data collection, and help prepare findings for team review.

The position emphasizes strong reading and writing skills, internet research, and collaboration with the research team. Some on-site work at UBCO may be required, with project activity through 2027.

Qualifications

• Registered and enrolled in a 2nd, 3rd or 4th year undergraduate degree.
• Maintain good academic standing.
• Experience conducting web/social media searches and writing literature reviews.
• Strong reading, comprehension and writing skills.
• Preference for experience using databases and spreadsheets; SPSS/NVivo preferred.

Responsibilities

• Conduct complex library literature and computer media searches.
• Assist team in selecting literature used by the project.
• Summarize findings from articles, documents, and social media.
• Collect data, including data analysis and data management.
• Identify variables within datasets and analyze themes across data.
• Prepare and present research findings for review by team members.
• Write research reports and participate in regular team meetings.
• Collaborate with the team leader and other Research Assistants.

Skills

Literature searches

Writing skills

Data analysis

Team collaboration

Web/social media searches

Education

Undergraduate degree (2nd–4th year)

Tools

SPSS

NVivo

Job description

Job Category

Student Employee

Job Title

Undergraduate Academic Assistant

Department

UBCO | Research | Taylor | School of Social Work | Faculty of Health and Social Development

Posting End Date

December 30, 2026

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the Posting End Date.

Job End Date

December 31, 2026

$22/hour

Summary

Participate in an investigation into how ecological systems, culture, behaviour, cognitive-information-processing styles, and psychological temperament interact to influence violent individuals. This is a socio-cultural-ecological pilot study informed by existing literature, web postings, and available data.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Conduct complex library literature and computer media searches
• Work with the team to determine which literature is used by the project
• Conduct research-related tasks such as identifying and summarizing findings from articles, documents, and social media web information
• Conduct data collection, including data analysis and data management
• Identify research variables within select datasets
• Analyze findings to determine themes and linkage among and between variables
• Conduct content analysis of selected literature
• Prepare and present research findings for review by team members
• Help improve research activities and make revisions as necessary in work plans and products
• Write research reports
• Participate in regular team meetings
• Work collaboratively with the team leader and other Research Assistants (RA)
• Participate in writing articles for publication (authorship is based on the amount of original writing for the article completed by the RA)
• Perform other related duties as required.

Qualifications

• Registered and enrolled in a second, third or fourth-year Undergraduate degree
• Maintain good academic standing
• Applicant must have skills and experience conducting web social media searches and the ability to write literature reviews
• Strong reading, comprehension, and writing skills are required.
• Preference given for experience using databases and spreadsheets
• Preference given to individuals who have experience using SPSS and NVivo qualitative and quantitative analysis software.
• Works collaboratively and completes tasks independently

Additional Information

The study uses published articles and documents, along with computer-generated information, to examine the development of violent individuals. This research aims to create a multidimensional description of individuals who intentionally engage in physical assaults. Harmonizing interacting elements rather than reporting singular concepts, such as home situation or socioeconomic phenomena, provides a more complete representation of how violent plans are formed. The study seeks to create a unified source of information detailing the many ecological dimensions of violent individuals.

The successful candidate will work directly with Dr. Edward Taylor. In addition to conducting web searches, the student will communicate with government and not-for-profit agencies. The student will attend regular meetings with Dr. Taylor. Most of the research will take place at the UBCO Landmark Tower offices. However, part of the assigned work can be completed off campus. This project is expected to continue until December 2027.