08/12/2026
Congratulations to SP2 PhD candidate Subin Na, who successfully defended her dissertation proposal, “Rhetoric of Peer Support and Reality of Labor: Role Construction, Institutional Contexts, and Compensation in Peer Specialist Job Postings.”
Peer support workers draw on their own experiences of mental health conditions and recovery to support others, yet these roles are often reshaped into positions that more closely resemble clinical work or are left with little meaningful peer content. Subin's dissertation examines thousands of peer specialist job postings across the United States to understand how employers define peer support roles at the point of hiring. Her research also explores how state policy, organizational characteristics, and compensation relate to the ways these positions are constructed. By identifying where and how the peer support role is diluted, her work has the potential to inform hiring practices, organizational decision-making, and state policies aimed at preserving the distinct value of peer support services.
Subin's research focuses on mental health services, recovery, peer support, implementation science, and Asian and immigrant mental health equity. Using quantitative, computational, and mixed-methods approaches, she examines how mental health systems can be designed and implemented to promote recovery and equitable access to care.
Subin also recently received an Honorable Mention for the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Disability Manuscript Award for her manuscript, “Cultural Humility and Recovery-Promoting Competencies: How Recovery Attitudes Shape Mental Health Practice,” co-authored with Dr. Phyllis Solomon and PhD candidate Suzanne Tham.
👏 Congratulations, Subin!
