Work, Stress, and Health 2027
The Human Foundation: The Future of Work and Dignity
June 22–24, 2027 · George Sherman Union, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts
Doctoral Consortium June 21 · Post-conference activities June 25
The Work, Stress, and Health Conference series addresses the ever-changing nature of work and the implications of these changes for the health, safety, and well-being of workers, and organizational effectiveness. The conference covers numerous topics of interest to workers, labor unions and other worker representatives, management, employers, practitioners, and researchers.
Work is one of the most fundamental human activities: a source of meaning, identity, livelihood, and community. Yet in an era of rapid technological change, economic uncertainty and relentless efficiency pressures, the worker as a full human being risks becoming an afterthought. WSH 2027 calls us back to our foundational purpose: to ensure that work serves people, not the other way around.
This time we are meeting in Boston. This city was the cradle of a revolution, and it reminds us that human dignity is not an abstract ideal; it is something societies choose to protect. We gather in Boston to assert that same principle for the world of work. If AI, automation, and new forms of work organization reshape jobs, the question is not whether work will change, but whether those changes will be guided by evidence, worker voice and a commitment to health, dignity, and well-being.
WSH 2027 invites occupational health scientists, practitioners, and policymakers to color outside the disciplinary lines and reclaim the human foundation: the irreducible value of workers as people, not just producers.
Each proposal is linked to one or more pillars.
1. The Basics, Revisited
Core occupational health psychology science, such as job demands and resources, stress and health, safety, burnout, and recovery. What do we know with confidence, and what have we overlooked?
2. The Human and the Machine
AI, surveillance, algorithmic management, and platform work, studied as a lens on worker health and dignity rather than as a separate technology track. Who benefits from claimed efficiency gains, and what do they cost workers?
3. Coloring Outside the Lines
Interdisciplinary, innovative, and boundary-crossing work, including research with historically underserved workers such as those in manufacturing, agriculture, domestic work, migrant labor, and the informal economy.
4. From Evidence to Change
Intervention science, policy translation, practitioner application, and organizational implementation. How well do current efforts work, and how can they improve?
Key dates
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| Proposal deadline (extended) | November 9, 2026 |
| Decisions emailed | January 2027 |
| Late-breaking research deadline | March 1, 2027 |
| Early registration ends | March 30, 2027 |
| Doctoral Consortium | June 21, 2027 |
| Conference | June 22–24, 2027 |
| Post-conference activities | June 25, 2027 |
Plan your conference
Program & Call for Proposals
Pillars, submission formats, deadlines, and awards.
Registration
Fees, membership savings, Doctoral Consortium, and policies.
Venue & Travel
Boston University’s George Sherman Union, accommodation, and getting there.
Sponsorship
Support WSH 2027 and reach the OHP community.
Organizing Committee
Meet the planning team and sign up to volunteer.
Become an SOHP member
SOHP members register at a reduced rate. Membership is $55 for professionals and $25 for students.
Questions?
- Program and submissions: Dr. Kimberly French, Program Chair — programwsh@sohp-online.org
- General conference questions: Dr. Ashley Nixon and Dr. M. Gloria González-Morales, Conference Co-Chairs — wsh@sohp-online.org
- Sponsorship: sponsorwsh@sohp-online.org