Two PhD Studentships are currently available
Data Analytics & Society CDT Studentships
SH74- Foster, Pryce and Bennett- The Social Care Workforce in Wales
This studentship offers an outstanding opportunity to work with Social Care Wales to understand the social care workforce using person-level data contained in the SAIL Databank – a unique, multi-sector, integrated administrative system. The PhD project will provide insight on a range of issues related to recruitment, retention, and the inequalities faced by the care workforce in Wales.
The challenges in social care are among the biggest issues facing society. Current figures show 165,000 vacancies in the care workforce, increasing to 500,000 by 2030. We are seeing increasing evidence of a workforce that is experiencing significant pressure, feels undervalued and underpaid, and has extensive difficulties recruiting and retaining staff. Recruitment is therefore one of the biggest challenges currently facing social care, and it is likely to worsen in the medium and long-term. The PhD project will model the social care workforce in Wales using a variety of techniques to inform policy and practice.
Based in the ESRC Centre for Care, University of Sheffield, the successful student will join other researchers studying the social care landscape, and benefit from an exceptional research environment; multidisciplinary supervision; opportunities to engage with non-academic partners across the care sector; and extensive development opportunities for early career scholars. The successful student will also benefit from a range of opportunities with the partners at Social Care Wales, including participation in team activities and away days.
This project would be well suited to a prospective PhD student with solid data analysis skills and a strong interest in social care and evidence-informed policy making. Experience analysing administrative data sources and an interest in engaging people who receive care and support and the public would be an advantage.
Funding: subject to applicant eligibility, funding of £6K per academic year is available for up to 4 years.
Closing date for applications is on 10th April 2023
SH75- Bath, Bennett and Holman- Understanding Inequalities & Interconnections in Health and Social Care
This studentship offers an outstanding opportunity to work with the Health Foundation, an independent charity committed to improving health and care in the UK, to understand inequalities and help improve the health and social care systems in the UK.
Compared to other sectors such as health and education, data infrastructure and analytical capacity in social care lags behind. Following the COVID pandemic and the ongoing crisis in the NHS, there is an urgent need for improving the evidence base on social care to inform decisions by providers and policy-makers, and ultimately improve outcomes for the millions of people who receive social care services.
The successful student will use person-level data from integrated administrative systems including health and social care information to explore timely and policy-relevant research questions relating to inequalities in access to care, care quality, experience or health outcomes between population groups, and inequalities between different population groups (e.g. geographical, deprivation, ethnicity, multimorbidity). The research will inform national policy debates and deepen public understanding of the interconnections between health and social care, and demonstrate the value of data for care planning and improvement to local and national audiences.
Based in the ESRC Centre for Care, University of Sheffield, the successful student will join other researchers studying the social care systems and landscape, and benefit from an exceptional research environment; multidisciplinary supervision; opportunities to engage with non-academic partners across the care sector; and extensive development opportunities for early career scholars.
This project would be well suited to a prospective PhD student with solid data analysis skills and a strong interest in health and social care and evidence-informed policy making. Experience analysing administrative data sources and an interest in engaging patients and the public would be an advantage.
The Centre for Care is a new research centre established following a highly competitive process run by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Based at the University of Sheffield, the Centre for Care has been awarded over £10 million for its initial five years to address the urgent need in the UK for new and accessible evidence on care. The Centre’s focus includes experiences of providing and receiving care across the life course; the networks, communities and systems that affect people who need care and support; the causes and consequences of inequalities in care; and the workforce changes needed to secure quality care for the future.
Closing date for these applications is on 10th April 2023
