Research Associate

About us:

We are seeking to recruit an organised, reliable and enthusiastic qualitative researcher with expertise in sociology or another relevant social science discipline to work on our ESRC-funded project, ‘Young Lives, Young Futures’. This is a longitudinal mixed methods study investigating how England’s education and training system can better support the transitions into further education and work of the 50 per cent of young people who don’t go to university.

The research is focussed on the 15-20 age group and has a particular emphasis on those who are most marginalised and whose input is often not heard in policymaking. Further details about the study can be found on our project website here.

The post-holder will be based in the Centre for Public Policy Research, a friendly and vibrant research centre within the School of Education, Communication and Society in the Faculty of Social Science and Public Policy.

About the role:

The successful candidate will work collaboratively as part of a larger research team. Their responsibilities will include: planning and organizing qualitative fieldwork; qualitative data collection and analysis; contributing to project publications; and co-leading the impact work with the young people. The latter will involve working in partnership with a human rights charity and professional film maker to support young people to reflect on the project data and their own experiences as a springboard for developing their self- and collective advocacy skills.

They will have a PhD in sociology or another relevant discipline (e.g. anthropology, social geography, social policy), strong qualitative research skills and a strong interest in social justice. They will be able to show evidence of high quality academic writing, excellent written and spoken English, a commitment to working collaboratively with others inside and outside the university and substantial experience of grassroots work with diverse groups of young people, for example, in youth work or similar settings.

We particularly welcome applications from candidates from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

This is a part time post (14 hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed term contract until 30 September 2025. The work may require some travel and overnight stays for fieldwork.

Interviews are due to be held on 18 December 2024.

Further information can be found in the job description and person specification which can be downloaded from King’s College London’s recruitment website here. 

How to apply

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, a supporting statement detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the person specification, and a sample piece of academic writing, ideally using qualitative data. This could be a draft or published journal article or book chapter on which you are sole or lead author, or a chapter from your PhD. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

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