Roberta Iversen

Roberta (Bobbie) Iversen is a distinguished scholar who served as Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Policy & Practice until her retirement in 2021. Her influential research has focused on family economic mobility, particularly among low-income working families. As Faculty Director of the Master of Science in Social Policy program (2009-2016) and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs (2000-2005), she made significant contributions to social policy education. Her groundbreaking work includes ethnographic studies of workforce development programs and economic mobility, culminating in influential books like "Jobs Aren't Enough: Toward a New Economic Mobility for Low-Income Families" and "What Workers Say." Named to the inaugural class of Fellows of the Society for Social Work and Research in 2014, she has shaped policy improvements in housing and workforce development across multiple cities. Her research spans welfare reform, workforce development, poverty, and family economic strategies, with particular attention to how low-income working parents navigate educational, employment, and social support systems. From 2013-2018, she served on the Executive Committee of Philadelphia's Shared Prosperity anti-poverty initiative, demonstrating her commitment to practical policy applications of her research.