Research Topic Title: Local Meets Global: Engaging with International Development Research, Policy and Practice around Gender and Social Transformation

My qualitative research sets out to understand how we can align different understandings of gender equality and women’s empowerment within the space of international development research, policy and practice. What are some of the possibilities, but also some of the risks and limitations, when gender-transformative programmes are implemented cross-culturally? I am investigating a particular case, a large-scale international non-governmental organisation’s (INGO) programme designed and implemented across the Global North and Global South, with a particular focus on Ghana, West Africa. Adopting a critical postcolonial feminist lens, drawing on African feminist scholarly work, I argue that spaces for transformative change are contested and try to identify whether and how these spaces might be co-produced in the context of international development work. I critically engage with questions around ‘rights and culture’ and how these discourses and approaches can be aligned in the case of gender-transformative interventions crossing boundaries in several ways. My interdisciplinary research can be of interest to scholars of gender and international development and, more broadly, those interested in gendered social justice.

Mentor/s: Dr Peace Medie, Associate Professor, School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies, UoB & Prof Mhairi Gibson, Professor of Anthropology

Publications

Froehlich, Fanny (Accepted/In press). Gender and Social Transformation. In The Bloomsbury Enyclopedia of Social Justice in Education: Gender and Sexuality, Volume 7. Edited by Prof. Marie Pierre Moreau.

Spencer, Grace; Thompson, Jill; Froehlich, Fanny; Kwankye, Stephen Owusu; Korleki, Dankye Ernestina (Accepted/In Press). Young People’s Involvement in Migration Research: Opportunities for Reshaping Priorities and Practices. In British Academy Journal.

Froehlich, Fanny (2021). Transnational and Local Concepts of Gender and Social Transformation in International Development Work: Understanding Normative Frameworks through Foregrounding Lived Realities in Ghana. Doctoral Thesis. University College London, UK.

Froehlich, Fanny (2018, June 5). Bartlett PhD Student Recounts Ghana Field Trip to Study Gender Roles and Language and Language. Blog. Available at https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/news/2018/jun/bartlett-phd-student-recounts-ghana-field-trip-study-gender-roles-and-language

Froehlich, Fanny (2017, February 13). Young Girls and Social Norms: Challenges to Promoting Wellbeing and Equality. Blog. Available at https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/development/news/2017/feb/young-girls-and-social-norms-challenges-promoting-well-being-and-equality

Froehlich, Fanny (2015). Die Erfindung einer afrikanischen Gesellschaft: Kwame Nkrumah und die Verbingung von Moderne und Tradition in Ghana. Saarbrücken: AV Akademikerverlag. [published in German; Title in English: The Invention of an African Society: Kwame Nkrumah and the Linking of Modernity and Tradition]

Contact Details:

E-mail: fanny.froehlich@bristol.ac.uk

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-fanny-froehlich-5b6886205/

X (Twitter):  N/A

Website / Blog: https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/persons/fanny-froehlich

Research Topic Title: A whole university approach to student mental health support and investigation of key social and educational factors linked to student wellbeing

Student mental health is an area of growing concern in higher education nationally and internationally. Universities and colleges are environments where both targeted and universally applied population health measures can have a significant impact on young people’s mental health and wellbeing, and consequently their futures. To date there is an absence of evidence for effective low-intensity student wellbeing support models. My PhD was the first study of its kind to evaluate the impact of an innovative change in student welfare provision at a large UK university. I used mixed methodology – harnessing thousands of survey responses, five years of health and administrative data, and more than 40 hours of staff and student focus groups and interviews. This fellowship will allow me to publish and disseminate those doctoral findings to a broad audience of researchers, practitioners and policymakers. My future research ambitions are to build on this work, examining longitudinal academic outcomes such as course drop-out and attainment in relation to mental wellbeing and student characteristics, including educational and social factors e.g., disability, socio-economic status and ethnicity. The fellowship also provides an opportunity for me to strengthen my relationships with social scientists, public health experts and HE providers across the sector and explore the possibility of a future, multi-site, student wellbeing study across the UK. Greater understanding of potential predictors of student mental wellbeing and academic outcomes is vital for directing institutional (and NHS) resource, addressing inequalities, and maximising positive outcomes for students.

Mentors: Professors Rona Campbell and Claire Haworth

Publications:

Bennett, J., Heron, J., Kidger, J., & Linton, M. J. (2023). Investigating Change in Student Financial Stress at a UK University: Multi-Year Survey Analysis across a Global Pandemic and Recession. Education Sciences, 13(12), 1175.https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13121175

Heron, P., Balloo, K., Barkham, M., Bennett, J., Berry, C., Dutta, S., Edwards, L., Ward, J., Gardani, M., Hosein, A., Byrom, N., Foster, J., Bewick, B., Knowles, L., Kumar, S., Linton, M-J., McLafferty, M., Lucock, M., McMillan, D., … Broglia, E. (2023). Measuring psychological wellbeing and mental health in university student cohorts. Kings College London Research Portal. https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/207843124/ Broglia_McMillan_Heron_cohort_study_core_outcome_set.pdf

Bennett, J., Heron, J., Gunnell, D., Purdy, S., & Linton, M. J. (2022). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student mental health and wellbeing in UK university students: a multiyear cross-sectional analysis. Journal of Mental Health, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638237.2022.2091766

Linton, M. J., Biddle, L., Bennett, J., Gunnell, D., Purdy, S., & Kidger, J. (2022). Barriers to students opting-in to universities notifying emergency contacts when serious mental

health concerns emerge: A UK mixed methods analysis of policy preferences. Journal of Affective Disorders Reports, 7, 100289. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadr.2021.100289

Contact Details:

E-mail: jacks.bennett@bristol.ac.uk

LinkedIn: Jacks Bennett

X (Twitter): @jacksbennett

Website / Blog: https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/persons/jacks-bennett

The Academic Advisory Board has overall responsibility for managing educational and operational aspects of the SWDTP.

Professor Richard Harris, SWDTP Director

Dr Angeline Mbogo Barrett, SWDTP Deputy Director

Sonja Foster, SWDTP Manager

Joanna Williams, SWDTP Coordinator

Dr Samantha Curle, University of Bath

Dr Jeffrey Lambert, University of Bath

Dr John Brice, University of Bath

Ana Bullock, University of Bath

Kiron Joshi, University of Bristol

Prof Edward King, University of Bristol

Dr Nasrul Ismail, Early Career Researcher rep, University of Bristol

Anna Dolman, University of Exeter

Dr Rachel Turner, University of Exeter

Nick Smith, University of Plymouth

Dr Patricia Kanngiesser, University of Plymouth

Dr Bernhard Gross, UWE

Vicky Nash, UWE

Sarah Priston, Bath Spa University

Dr Anne Parfitt, Bath Spa University

Dr Stuart Read, Bath Spa University

Dr Fiona Knight, Bournemouth University

Dr Julia Taylor, Bournemouth University

Dr Andreas Walmsly, Plymouth Marjon University

Pathway available at Bath, Bath Spa, Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth and UWE

A new pathway on social transformations and sustainable futures with and through digital technologies, including research with big data.

The Sociotechnical Futures & Digital Methods Pathway sits at the intersection between methodological advances and how related technologies continue to have a profound influence on social relations, government, commerce, health, education, and the economy. The pathway supports research both from the perspective of applying digital methods and technologies (including big data), qualitatively or quantitatively and perhaps with the backing of a collaborative partner, to address social issues, as well as from thinking critically about these technologies and their social impacts.

In the digital age, technologies and methods continue to change the way we live and the way we conduct research, communicate and engage. Organisations and societies are navigating new digital spaces that seamlessly connect our online and offline lives. Rapid changes to digital and physical infrastructures will continue, and the rise of the meta-verse is unstoppable. Regulatory bodies and technology developers face further challenges when it comes to understanding how people and societies relationship with technology can appear dualistic. For example, a single innovation (or sociotechnical future) can provide positive benefits for some while simultaneously creating new inequalities for others.

Sociotechnical developments also continue to inspire novel research directions in the social sciences. This can include the use of social media, smartphones, and sensors. When used successfully, both theoretical and applied contributions have supported the development of new technologies, public policy, and cemented the role social sciences can play when it comes to tackling the interdisciplinary challenges of our time. However, these developments have also amplified new challenges facing researchers when accessing, engaging, and sharing new and sensitive forms of digital data.

Pathway available at Bath, Bristol and Exeter

Sociology is the study of the organisation of society and the experiences of people as they navigate life. Of particular interest are the processes, practices and social structures that inhibit or enable opportunities for people and influence a range of outcomes, such as employment, education, wellbeing, health, crime, and lifestyles. The reproduction of society through cultural practices and how these shape identities is also a major strand of sociological thought. Sociologists employ a wide range of approaches from developing theoretical perspectives to empirical research using both qualitative and quantitative methods.    

A core strength of the SWDTP is the broad range of topics that can be supported, both within the discipline of sociology and across disciplines, to involve other social sciences. These include: Crime, Violence and Policing; Culture and Ethics; Health and (well)Being; Inequalities, Marginality and Resistance; Mind and Materiality; and Science, Technology, Knowledge and Power. Academic staff working across SWDTP institutions also have methodological expertise in ethnography, participant observation, interviewing, focus groups, and an array of quantitative approaches including statistical modelling and computational social science.

Doctoral study within the SWDTP will enable you to develop both the theoretical and empirical skills necessary to engage in advanced sociological research into the issues affecting society both nationally and internationally. This can be the start of many different career paths and is ideal for those seeking to deepen their understanding of society and transformation through research.   

Pathway available at Bristol and Exeter

The Economic and Social History pathway is open to students working in the field of economic and social history, conceived very broadly. It is appropriate for students working on any of the following areas:

• economic and social history from the medieval period to the present day
• historical research with a significant quantitative element
• historical research that uses social science methodologies to a significant degree

The universities of Exeter and Bristol offer considerable expertise in these areas. Economic and social history is a long-standing specialism at both institutions. We are home to an internationally-recognised group of specialists and the largest grouping of early-modern economic and social historians in the UK. We also have particular strengths in contemporary history, global history and histories of empire. In addition, there are other clusters of research staff who skilled in applying quantitative methods, and who use social science methodologies in their work.

Alongside the wider cohort training offered as part of the SWDTP, students in this pathway have bespoke development opportunities. Provisions made in recent years includes training in ancient and modern languages, GIS, medieval and early modern palaeography, oral history, and engaged research and digital humanities. Many postgraduates have the opportunity to gain teaching experience and to complete an optional assessment resulting in an Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy. We also support high-profile internships and placements: recent examples include the International Labour Organization, BBC, Library of Congress and Houses of Parliament.

Meet the hardworking folk who keep the SWDTP running!

Professor Richard Harris (he/him)

SWDTP Director

Rich.Harris@bristol.ac.uk

Rich is Director of the SWDTP and Professor of Quantitative Social Geography at the University of Bristol. Despite the quantitative in his title, he is a keen advocate for all types of social science research and methods. He believes the point of a University is to learn from other people, to challenge and to be challenged. He enjoys being so. Rich was an undergraduate in Bristol geography and hopes one day to have a room named after him. Or, a small cupboard, at least.

Professor Angeline Mbogo Barrett (she/her)

SWDTP Deputy Director

Angeline.Barrett@bristol.ac.uk

Angeline oversees the SWDTP’s collaboration activities, including the training and development, and the postdoctoral fellowship competition. She previously led an international research project on qualitative research training within doctoral programmes. She has also served as PGR Director for the School of Education at the University of Bristol.

Some of Angeline’s best memories from her own PhD are the friendships she formed across the social sciences. As DD, she aims to facilitate doctoral researchers to form and connect with peer networks, through which their view of social research is challenged and expanded.

Sonja Foster (they/them)

SWDTP Manager

Sonja.Foster@bristol.ac.uk

Sonja has been the Manager of the SWDTP since 2012 and is responsible for the strategic development and delivery of all activities, as well as stakeholder management across the eight partner sites and leadership of the Hub.  They obtained their MBA at Warwick University, whilst undertaking a head of department role at the Research Councils in Swindon.  Prior to that, they worked at the Higher Education Funding Council for England.  they enjoy being a parent to their two daughters, travelling as much as possible, reading poetry, throwing axes and watching horror films…

Joanna Williams (she/her)

SWDTP Coordinator

Joanna.Williams@bristol.ac.uk

Jo is the SWDTP Coordinator and arrived on the doorstep of the SWDTP in Spring 2014. She enjoys the challenges that cross-institutional working can bring and is immensely grateful to work within such a great team whom are friends as well as colleagues. Jo can help with all queries, concerns and requests relating to your funding, Jo can also help with additional funding to support your PhD via Overseas Fieldwork, Overseas International Visits, Difficult Language Training and your RTSG (Research Training Support Grant).

Jonathan Chow (he/him)

SWDTP Collaboration Facilitator

jonathan.chow@bristol.ac.uk

Jonathan joined the SWDTP as Collaboration Facilitator in July 2023, having previously worked in community engagement and social innovation. He looks after our academic community and supports academics and industry in delivering training and collaboration activities. When not at work, he can be spotted anywhere from museums to street markets, but nothing beats the seaside on a nice sunny day!

Charlotte cockburn (She/her)

SWDTP Collaboration Facilitator

charlotte.cockburn@bristol.ac.uk

Charlotte joined the team in May 2025 as a Collaboration Facilitator, bringing nearly eight years of experience at the University of Bristol. Prior to this role, she worked as a Wellbeing Adviser and later as a Student Success Adviser within the Business School, supporting students in their personal and academic development.

Before working in higher education, Charlotte worked in social care with some of Bristol’s most vulnerable young people. She also has a creative background, having studied photography and songwriting, and performed in a funk and soul band for over 10 years. In addition, she brings experience in events, sales, and talent management.

Charlotte is passionate about holistic wellbeing and lifelong learning. She is currently studying reflexology and aromatherapy and has recently qualified as a yoga instructor.

As a Collaboration Facilitator, Charlotte supports student community-building, personal and professional development, and helps students access placements and training opportunities.

Brendan Walsh (he/him)

SWDTP Administrator

brendan.walsh@bristol.ac.uk

Brendan is the administrative support for all things SWDTP. He joined in July 2023. Brendan can help redirect you to where you need to go, and often helps out on SWDTP run events and get-togethers. He is a biltong connoisseur.

If you’re not sure who to contact, use our Contact Us page and it will be forwarded to the right person

Research and Academic Development

Training Series

One-off events

Demystifying the publishing process and Open Access

Speaker: Dr Kate Holmes, Open Access Advocacy Research Support Librarian at The University of Bristol 

Publishing is central to being a researcher but we seldom talk about how you publish and what you need to do to look after yourself in the process. This session will talk through common routes to publishing and how to deal with, the infamous, Reviewer 2. Publishing your work is not just about what you say, but how you say it. Open Access is a key part of the ‘how’ of research communication, particularly if you’re work is supported by a funder who requires you to make your research freely available. In this webinar, you’ll find out about the different free and paid routes to Open Access and start to think about Open Access publishing as part of broader ethical research practices.

4M Conference 2024: Menstruation in Society

The inaugural 4M conference took place on the 20^th and 21^st of June 2024 at the University of Exeter. The conference aimed to provide a platform for researchers and non-researchers to share their work relevant to the 4Ms, and provided an opportunity to form and build connections that will help ensure research on the 4Ms is innovative, high quality, aligned with needs and priorities, and impactful.

Exploring Immersive Technologies in Social Science Research Workshop – 17 November 2021, 10am-4pm

This online workshop focused on how immersive technologies have been used in current research projects across the SWDTP universities. We challenged workshop participants to consider how and if they might engage with these technologies in their own research and showcased studies using different technologies including virtual reality, hot spot technology and body motion capture. 

The workshop focused on a number of theoretical, methodological and practical questions. Participants also talked to creatives and academics about how they have used these tools in their research and what the challenges are.

Watch on our YouTube Here

Access Agenda and Presentation Slides

Perspectives on Research and Work in Developing and Transitional Countries

This webinar, developed in collaboration with the AHRC SWWDTP, looked at doing research and working in developing and transitional countries in the field of Defence and Security. Panelists, including the SWDTP’s Dr Roddy Brett, brought decades of experience to discuss the challenges and opportunities of academic research among other topics.

A recording of this webinar is available but public access cannot be provided. If you would like to be sent the video, please email Jude Hill.

Publishing your Social Sciences doctoral research as a monograph – 19 July 2021

Phillippa Grand (Bristol University Press), was joined by colleagues who have recently published their theses as monographs (Bowles; Carver) to talk about the process of publishing your work, producing a book proposal, the process for peer review/production/choosing a publisher and approaching and working with publishers.

Conducting Qualitative Research Online – August – November 2020

The SWDTP ran 6 training events in collaboration with Karen Lumsden. Four of these sessions focused on conducting qualitative interviews online and two on conducting focus groups online.

Institutional Ethnography (IE) Workshop: 26th October 2020

This highly successful hands on workshop on IE provided insights into an approach which is applicable across the social sciences. This includes health and disability studies, education, gender studies, natural resource management & land planning. IE has strong interdisciplinary potential and it is well equipped to pay attention to difference.

Co-Produced Approaches in Research Workshop – 19th January 2021

Brigstow Institute, SWDTP and SWWDTP collaborated to create this workshop to explore co-produced approaches to research. During the workshop students heared from leaders in the field, had a chance to hear about specific projects using this approach and explored how they might use these approaches in their research.

ADvaNCE workshops

The SWDTP co-funded a series of three workshops including talks by clinicians and researchers in the field, focus group discussions and young peoples’ perspectives, to open up new research avenues and opportunities for collaboration.

These were led by ADvaNCE (the adolescent depression network to consolidate expertise), a special interest research group which is passionate about reducing depression in young people.

The videos below give a great idea about the work they do and you can follow them on Twitter for more updates