Social Psychology of Managing Dignity at Work

How to apply: https://www.bath.ac.uk/guides/how-to-apply-for-doctoral-study/

Enquiries: Informal enquiries are welcomed and should be directed to Dr Vivek Soundararajan (vs602@bath.ac.uk).

The project: Dignity at work has been a fundamental idea in research, practice, and policy on worker well-being. Scholars across disciplines have been conducting research on the topic from different perspectives. Global institutions and national governments have also given great importance to dignity at work. For example, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 23(3), recognizes that “[e]veryone who works has the right to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity…” Dignity, for example, is also central to the International Labour Organization’s Decent Work Initiative, the UN rights of children, and the rights of migrant workers. Given the increasingly precarious employment relationship, there is also growing attention to dignity in human rights legislation, labor rights reform, and public discourse generally, not just as a legal or policy notion but also as a fundamental aspect of democratic societies. For example, dignity at work is a part of the UK Equality Act 2010. The right to live with dignity is a part of the Indian constitution (Article 21).

Despite its significance, there is limited understanding of the social psychology of how individuals manage dignity at work. We invite proposals that focus on the influences of individuals and groups on the actions that workers take to manage their dignity at work.

In terms of methods, we prefer applicants with experience in running psychological experiments and/or keen to learn and develop the necessary expertise to run psychological experiments.

Preferred start date: October 2023

Application criteria: You should have at least a 2:1 at undergraduate level (or its international equivalent) in management, psychology, and related disciplines.

• An interest in and ability to perform psychological experiments
• A strong research proposal
• An aspiration to produce high-quality research with an impact and the potential to be published in leading peer-reviewed journals

Funding: The studentship includes tuition fees, a stipend at the UKRI standard rate (at least £17,668 per annum, 2022/23 rate) and research/training expenses (up to £1,000 per annum) for up to 3 years full-time study. Funding is available to students under both Home and International fee status.

Please note, students who are registered on the Integrated PhD route due to academic experience will be expected to pay for year 1 of the Master's programme before progressing on to the 3 year PhD.

Self funded applications will also be considered.