Nigel Groome/OxInAHR Studentship: Developing an Intervention to Support Global Majority Nurses Who Experience Racism

3 Year, full-time funded PhD Studentship

Bursary p.a.: Bursary equivalent to UKRI national minimum stipend plus fees (2025/26 bursary rate is £20,780)

Fees and Bench fees: will be met by the University for the 3 years of the funded Studentship.

Closing date: Thursday 27 March 2025

Start Date: September / October 2025

Requirements:

Applicants should have a first or upper second-class honours degree from a Higher Education Institution in the UK or acceptable equivalent qualification. EU Applicants must have a valid IELTS Academic test certificate (or equivalent) with an overall minimum score of 6.5 to 7.0 and no score below 6.0 issued in the last 2 years by an approved test centre.

Complete applications should include a project proposal (max 1000 words) including background, aims and an outline methodology.

The studentship requires you to undertake the equivalent of up to 6 hrs teaching per week on average, during semester time, and to include preparation and marking (but no more than 20 hrs per week), and to participate in a teaching skills course without further remuneration.    

Project Description:

The aim of this mixed methods PhD is to develop and pilot a mentorship intervention to support global majority nurses who have experienced racism. Global majority nurses make up over one quarter of the UK registered workforce and are more likely to experience higher levels of discrimination, bullying, harassment and racism from both patients and colleagues. However, racism directed at nurses is often mismanaged, inadequately reported and identified, minimised or ignored. The experience of racism can lead to feelings of fear, anger, and helplessness, a breakdown in the nurse patient relationship, and a reduction in job satisfaction. Yet, there remains a lack of robust interventions to support global majority nurses who are exposed to racism on a regular basis. Tackling this problem could lead to improvements in wellbeing, job satisfaction, intention to stay in the profession, and coping behaviours, with longer term improvements to workforce retention and patient care outcomes.

This PhD studentship is supported by a multi-disciplinary supervisory team with experience in nursing and workforce development, psychology, qualitative and quantitative methods, and health services research. Dr Zoe Davey is an OxInAHR Research Fellow, and an experienced mixed methods health services researcher with a background in psychology. Professor Catherine Henshall holds a clinical academic role across Oxford Brookes University and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, and is NIHR Associate Director of Nursing Midwifery. Dr Olga Kozlowska is a senior lecturer in research and knowledge exchange, and an experienced health and care researcher with a background in psychology. The studentship will also benefit from the support of an experienced team of external advisors based within the UK and internationally. The PhD will build on work previously carried out by the supervisory team and it has the potential to lead to further post-doctoral projects and research collaborations.

Application process: Please contact hls-applications@brookes.ac.uk for details of how to apply.

Complete applications should include a project proposal (max 1000 words) including background, aims and an outline methodology. Applicants can liaise with the supervisor named in the project advertisement when developing their proposal.

Contact hls-applications@brookes.ac.uk with any queries. 

Director of Studies: Dr Zoe Davey

Supervisors: Professor Cathy Henshall, Dr Olga Kozlowska

Project Contact: Dr Zoe Davey: zdavey@brookes.ac.uk

Part time MPhil/PhD study will be exceptionally considered.

Interviews are anticipated to take place online in early May 2025. 

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