Feeling welcome? Staff perceptions and identities within and outside of the university

Full Project Detail:

Fully funded PhD studentship on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in higher education

Loughborough University – School of Social Sciences and Humanities

We are inviting applications from highly motivated and talented graduates for a full-time three-year (or part time pro rata) PhD studentship to undertake a research project on staff perceptions and identities within and outside of different universities. The studentship is funded through the Mini-Centre for Doctoral Training (Mini-CDT) ‘Unequal academic citizenship: opportunities and barriers to participation and inclusion of cultural diversity and intersecting identities in higher education (CITHEI)’, which will host six PhD projects in total. All projects examine opportunities and barriers for university students, staff and alumni to develop their full potential.

This project compares how academic and professional staff with various social, cultural and gender backgrounds have felt included and/or excluded in different spaces within the university and its wider environments. Drawing on surveys, interviews, and visual methods, this project aims to study the experiences made in different British universities to produce new knowledge about the spatialities of sociocultural inclusion and belonging in higher education.

We will support our PhD student in their project through an induction process, regular research meetings with the supervisory team, tailored career advice and training on subject-specific, transferable, technical and industry relevant skills such as drafting publications and communicating research findings. The PhD student will be expected to participate actively in the community of doctoral scholars, and there will be opportunities to travel nationally and/or internationally to attend research conferences.

We actively encourage applications from women, disabled and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates, who can bring their experiences and voices to the studentship and the Mini-CDT.

For informal enquiries before applying for the studentship contact:

Dr Catherine Armstrong ([Email Address Removed])

Find out more:

Loughborough University is a top-ten rated university in England for research intensity (REF2014). In choosing Loughborough for your research, you will work alongside academics who are leaders in their field. For further details, see: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/supporting-you/research/; for the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, see: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/schools/social-sciences-humanities/.

Entry requirements:

Applicants should have or are expected to have achieved by the start of the project at least a 2:1 Honours degree (or equivalent) in human geography, sociology, history or any other discipline within the social sciences and humanities. A relevant Master’s degree and/or experience in one or more of the following research activities is desirable: data collection and analysis using surveys, interviews, focus groups, visual methods, textual analysis.