Gender, Job Satisfaction, and Workplace Culture: Trends and Implications for Recruiting and Retaining Correctional Staff

WICC2025 Presentation by David Pitts and Alice Galley (WICC2025-PID082)

Authors

Dr David Pitts

Vice President for Justice & Safety, Urban Institute, United States

David Pitts is Vice President for Justice & Safety at the Urban Institute and director of the Prison Research and Innovation Initiative, a multiyear project that leverages research to promote transparency, innovation, and well-being in US prisons. Pitts uses evidence-based strategies to promote prison reform that benefits both incarcerated people and correctional staff, and toward that end, he has partnered with an array of advocacy organizations, nonprofit service providers, and departments of corrections. His work has addressed a variety of topics in this area, including restrictive housing, prison education, visitation, and correctional staff well-being.

In addition to his criminal legal system research, Pitts has written extensively on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in public policy. He has consulted for government organizations at all levels, from small cities to federal agencies, and has taught a variety of courses to graduate students in public policy and criminal justice programs. He is currently an adjunct professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, and he spent a decade in academia as a tenure-track and tenured professor prior to his work in applied criminal legal research.

A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Pitts earned a bachelor’s degree from Birmingham-Southern College; master’s degrees from Indiana University and the University of California, Irvine; and a PhD from the University of Georgia.

Alice Galley

Policy Associate, Urban Institute, United States

Alice Galley is a policy analyst in the Justice Policy Center at the Urban Institute, where she primarily works on project management for the Prison Research and Innovation Initiative, which is focused on transforming the prison system to promote transparency and accountability.

Before Urban, Galley worked for the Washtenaw County (MI) Office of the Public Defender where she developed a hands-on understanding of public interest work. She is committed to creating change within the criminal justice system and investing in community supports outside of it with those personally affected.
Galley holds a BA in biopsychology, cognition, and neuroscience with a minor in crime and justice from the University of Michigan.

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