BU Research Blog

Category / international

5 February 2023

50th PhD viva as external

international, PG research, Publishing, student research, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Late last week I had the pleasure of conducting my 50th Ph.D. viva as an external examiner. The first Ph.D. viva as external examiner was in 2004 at the University of Durham. Over the years most have been at universities in the UK, but I have also had the pleasure of conducting viva in Ireland, the Netherlands, Nepal, Australia, Belgium, Finland, Denmark and New Zealand. Technically three of these were not a traditional Ph.D. viva, as it included one Doctorate in Professional Practice (at The Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen), a D. Phil. at the University of Oxford and acting as pre-examiner for a Ph.D. at a university on Finland. In addition I have also acted six times as an internal examiner at the University of Aberdeen (n=3) and Bournemouth University (n=3). Over the years some of the experiences related to examining and supervision Ph.D. theses have resulted in papers and book chapters [1-5].

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health

References:

van Teijlingen E (2007) PhD theses: the pros and cons (letter), Times Higher Education Suppl. Issue 1808 (August 24^th): 15.
Regmi, P., Poobalan, A., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2021) PhD supervision in Public Health, Health Prospect: Journal of Public Health 20(1):1-4.
Wasti, S.P. Regmi, P.R., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V. (2022) Writing a PhD Proposal, In: Wasti, S.P., et al. (Eds.) Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books: 176-183.
Hundley, V., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2022) Converting your Master’s or Doctoral Thesis into an Academic Paper for Publication, In: Wasti, S.P., et al. (Eds.) Academic Writing and Publishing in Health & Social Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books: 184-189.
van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, B., Regmi, P., Simkhada, P., Hundley, V., Poudel, K.C. (2022) Reflections on variations in PhD viva regulations: “And the options are….”, Journal of Education & Research 12(2): 61-74.

2 February 2023

SciVal training for Research Team Leaders – 23 Feb 2023

international, Knowledge Exchange, Publishing, Training Pengpeng

Are you looking for a collaborator to fill a gap in your team’s expertise, or looking for a non-academic collaborator for a funding bid? Interested in exploring which research contributes to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals? Or do you need to present your publishing track record for a funding application?

Staff and research students at Bournemouth University have access to the research intelligence platform SciVal, a tool that provides research analytics data. Used in the right context SciVal can help you discover current research trends, track who is citing your work and from where, and identify potential collaborators including in non-academic sectors.

Join us in this online session delivered by our dedicated SciVal Customer Consultant on 23 February 2023, 10am to 11am or 2pm to 3pm.

To find out more about how to join the session, please visit this link on the staff intranet –

https://staffintranet.bournemouth.ac.uk/workingatbu/staffdevelopmentandengagement/fusiondevelopment/fusionprogrammesandevents/rkedevelopmentframework/careers/scivalforresearchteamleaders/

If you do not have access to the Staff Intranet, you can access the booking form via the link below –

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=VZbi7ZfQ5EK7tfONQn-_uHL-6XoUudlNkJOS948yf5NUNEUyMUJSWUVUR1ZRWUNEVjhVT0lIS01QVyQlQCN0PWcu

23 January 2023

HE policy update for the w/e20th January 2023

Industry collaboration, innovation, international, Student Engagement jforster

The view from the DfE

For the first time since he was appointed, the Minster for Skills, further and Higher Education has written to the sector. The tone is more positive than we have become used to, it didn’t arrive on a Friday at 5pm, and it was fairly focussed. It is clear where the focus is, and no surprise either, given Halfon’s known views aired as chair of the Education Committee. Skills, technical education and social justice, including of course accepting T-levels in admissions, and please can we do more apprenticeships. Wonkhe have a view here.

Tuition Fees

Kier Starmer has stated “he wants to see change” on tuition fees that “he doesn’t think it works”. He qualified the statement making clear while he supports the original Labour policy of abolishing tuition fees in principle it would be too detrimental to the economy to carry it out: “ there are good Labour things that we would want to do but because of the damage the Tories have done we won’t be able to do”. He said instead his focus, if elected, would be on “stabilising the economy and growing it” and on restoring and reforming public services. He did not categorically say Labour would not maintain their free tuition fees pledge at the next election but it sounds like he is laying the ground.

There’s a Guardian article here. It’s estimated that abolishing tuition fees would cost around £6 billion per year.

Research

The PM spoke about plans to build an innovative economy and emphasised the increase in R&D funding to £20 billion to enhance our world leading strengths in AI, life sciences, quantum computing, financial services, and green technology.
Science minister George Freeman gave a keynote address – Science Superpower: The UK’s Global Science Strategy beyond Horizon Europe. He has also spoken out on Horizon Europe stating that both prime minister Rishi Sunak and chancellor Jeremy Hunt agreed that two years’ exclusion from the EU’s Horizon Europe R&D programme was “long enough” (source: Politics podcast). He also stated that if Britain was permanently excluded from the EU science schemes it would need to focus on specific research challenges where it can lead multinational consortia – There is a “huge opportunity” for the U.K. in these areas because Brexit allows the country to become “a global testbed” and regulate in an “agile” and “responsive” way, the science minister said (Politico). Also the Minister stated: As part of its “Plan B” if excluded from EU science, the U.K. would also channel more funding toward fellowships for foreign researchers, “moonshots” on cutting-edge technology areas, and global collaborations. He continued: “There’s a possibility if we move with bold vision … the European Union will see that we are committed to doing this and I think it’s more likely that they will pick up the phone and say, ‘look, come back in and let’s do the ERC [European Research Council] together’ and learn from some of the things that we are doing.”
Parliamentary question on medical innovation.
The Treasury has opened a consultationseeking views on the design of a single, simplified research and development (R&D) tax relief scheme, merging the existing research and development expenditure credit (RDEC) and the small and medium enterprise (SME) R&D relief.

Regulatory

The Russell Group, MillionPlus, GuildHE, and University Alliance banded together and wrote a coordinated letter to the Education Select Committee asking them to consider a new inquiry reviewing the into the operation and performance of the Office for Students (OfS). They ask the Committee to assess whether the OfS has succeeded in the role parliament envisaged for it in HERA, whether it has the confidence of the sector in the way it carries out its regulatory duties, how it has supported students and how it performs relative to standards set out in the Regulators’ Code.

It acknowledges the DfE review of HERA but states the depth of scrutiny failed to reflect the significance of the legislation and highlights the Government’s research based reviews emphasising there has been no equivalent review of the OfS. The letter also emphasises the student voice. Of course, the OfS itself has often justified choices and aligned itself with its perceived view of students. So this seems a reasonable request to the Committee. The inquiry would also allow universities and other HE providers regulated by OfS to share their opinion of OfS effectiveness and operational decisions.

Concerns raised in the letter:

The letter touches on technical issues and concerns that OfS may become the permanent Designated Quality Body. The need for an independent body to assess quality and standards was stressed by the Lords during the passage of HERA and ultimately resulted in the Government amendment to introduce the DQB function. The letter states: If the OfS were to take on DQB responsibilities permanently it would lead to a loss of independent oversight of quality assurance in England and go against international standards.
The letter also raises concerns that the OfS is not implementing a fully risk-based approach, that it is not genuinely independent and that it is failing to meet standards we would expect from the Regulators’ Code. The letter states the regulatory burden continues to be unnecessary limiting the full funding that could be spent on a quality experience for students.
Critique is levied because the OfS’ operation does not align with the [Regulators’] Code…the absence of mechanisms for the Regulator to gain structured feedback from providers on its own performance (as highlighted in a recent report by the National Audit Office).
Finally the letter concludes that a review is timely as the OfS is about to take on additional responsibilities due to the HE (Freedom of Speech) Bill.

It’s a powerful letter but what will it achieve? Select committees are not obliged to respond to requests they investigate a matter through an inquiry, they may also have a full programme (6 open inquiries, 2 about to conclude), or think this is not a priority. Or they may dismiss it as the sector moaning about regulation, which is a sign that regulation is working. Also, while Parliament and Government are separate entities so the Committee can do thing the Government might not like, the Chair is a Tory and the Government are unlikely to be happy about a free for all picking holes in their regulator of choice, particularly during a pre-election period when Rishi is trying to maintain stability whilst building his party’s standing alongside governing the country.

However, to receive a joint letter from 4 mission groups is a significant occurrence and parliament is careful to understand the opinions of the populace. So, at the least, they will consider it.

What might happen?

If they choose to run an inquiry they may elect to hold oral evidence only. If they were to open for written evidence they might anticipate an unmanageable deluge of written as everyone piles in with their grumbles. Inviting limited speakers – perhaps one from each mission group and some from alternative HE providers under the regulation of the OfS and potentially student representatives – might help manage volume.

If the Committee did open for written evidence what form would the terms of reference take? Presumably the Committee wouldn’t draw them directly from the mission group letter but they need a narrow focus to avoid opening up a wider can of worms. The alternative is to keep an inquiry focussed on only one or two aspects. Or to not run an inquiry at all – they might to state that the DfE analysis is sufficient or find it isn’t their place due to a technicality in law or parliamentary procedure.

Even if an inquiry is run it might not achieve all the outcomes the mission group colleagues are hoping for. Particularly because even if the Committee find OfS is not performing well and make recommendations to Government the Government is free to ignore them and pursue their own course of action.

No matter what the outcome it is exciting to see the sector united and lobbying on their own behalf rather than passively accepting (and moaning) about the state of affairs. It has long been a criticism of the HE sector that we were not united in action nor coordinated in pushing back against HE decisions and regulation. Certainly the response to this call for an inquiry will be closely watched by the sector, Parliament and Government.

Parliamentary Question: DfE will not publish the impact assessment relating to OfS regulatory framework fees charged to providers.

Students

Mental Health:

Research Professional: a study has found that students’ risk of mental health problems differs depending on which subject they study. The study was undertaken in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and has a relatively limited sample.

Loans/Cost of Living

The Russell Group spoke out to warn that students in England could lose as much as £1,500 a year if maintenance loans do not keep up with inflation – highlighting students will drop out as they are unable to afford to stay in HE. The Russell Group laid the blame with the DfE stating they use out-of-date projections to calculate annual increases to maintenance loans – resulting in a significant real-term cut.

Russell Group chief executive, Dr Tim Bradshaw, said: Students are struggling with the rising cost of living and while our members are doing what they can to help, including investing millions of pounds in hardship support, we are concerned about the impact on students’ wellbeing and their studies. It’s particularly frustrating to see those challenges exacerbated by the use of a model that means students are set to be £1,500 worse off next year, especially when it can be so easily fixed and it relates to a loan that is paid back by the student.

Meanwhile the Government announced a change to the pre-2012 student loan interest rate. This plan 1 loan allows for interest rate changes as the bank Base Rate changes. The interest rate for these loans has increased to 4.5% (because the bank Base Rate changed to 3.5% in December 2022). Plan 2 and postgraduate loans remain at 6.5% until 28 Feb 2023.

However, on 11 January the Government announced the Cost of living boost for students: Financial package to help students with living costs and a further freeze on tuition fees. This includes freezing tuition fees for 2 years to reduce student debt levels (on top of the existing 6 year freeze on tuition fees)[1] and providing additional financial support for students in need. The additional monies are £15 million distributed through hardship funding, on top of the £261 million that is distributed for hardship annually to providers. HE providers will decide how to distribute their share of the additional funds to best meet their students’ needs. The Government also confirmed that the maximum loans and grants supporting both undergraduate and postgraduate with living and other costs will be increased by 2.8% for 2023/24. Minister Halfon also confirmed that students starting Higher Technical Qualifications in 2023/24 would also qualify for fee and maintenance loans for the first time.

Millionplus responded to the 2.8% living cost increase: The Government’s 2.8% uplift in maintenance loans equates to a significant real-terms cut in student support. Universities will continue to support their students through the cost of living crisis, but with their budgets also stretched they can only do so much. While the £15m additional hardship funding will help to support this work, more action is needed to support students.

Last October our Learning With the Lights Off report highlighted that 300,000 students, disproportionately from disadvantaged backgrounds, are at risk of severe financial hardship because of the cost of living crisis. The choice between completing your studies or eating is no real choice at all, but that could be the situation many find themselves in. The funding arrangements announced today will do little to alleviate that stark choice.

The Russell Group were similarly unimpressed – Dr Tim Bradshaw, Chief Executive of the Russell Group, said: It is disappointing that the DfE has failed to deliver a meaningful increase to maintenance loans or take the opportunity to address some of the flaws in the forecasting process to ensure they keep up with rising costs, despite warnings that students would be left £1500 worse off next year. Reversing the real terms cut in the value of the loan since 2020/21 would be a simple fix that would provide much needed immediate support for living costs and would be paid back by the student.

NUS: The NUS welcomes any additional money and the Government’s recognition that students are in a precarious position due to spiralling inflation and costs…But while any increase in loans and hardship funds is welcome, we believe it is too little, too late. The Government needs to put in place a proper funding package to secure student finances and ensure all students can meet their potential…The government must go further to protect students in the long term, by increasing the value of the maintenance package, implementing a rent freeze and further controls on spiralling student rent, reducing transport costs and increasing the minimum wage for apprentices and young people…The 2.8% increase in the maintenance loan for 2023/24 is woefully inadequate and will leave students over £1,500 worse off than they would have been if student support was tied to inflation. More than a quarter of students are living on less than £50 a month after rent and bills. If maintenance support continues to lag behind inflation, the number of students in poverty is only going to increase.

The regulatory context: the OfS have weighed in with some research and John Blake has pointed out the potential impact on equality of opportunity. Although they clearly have an interest, given the access and participation agenda it is not clear what they can do about it – but there are some hints at the end of the blog:

We will be publishing an Insight briefin the next couple of months summarising our cost-of-living polling and roundtable discussions. By highlighting practical approaches taken within the sector, we hope it will be a useful contribution to the growing body of evidence on this subject.
This evidence will also feed into our work on risks to equality of opportunity. Later this year, the OfS will be publishing an equality of opportunity risk register. The register, which is an important part of our access and participation reforms, will identify key sector-level risks to equality of opportunity in higher education and highlight student groups most affected by each risk. There’s a good chance cost of living will be on the register.
We will also be publishing updated guidance for providers on preparing their access and participation plans. In the meantime, in line with the existing guidanceI would encourage providers to continue to engage with their students to ensure their voice on this, as on other issues, is heard. Listening to, partnering with and understanding the views of underrepresented students can lead to improved strategies and activities that support these students to succeed.

Not a level playing field: For 2023-24 the Welsh Government has announced it will uplift the value of maintenance support (9.4%) with an average award of £11,720. It will apply to students who are already on a degree course. The higher support will be awarded to all Welsh students wherever they study in the UK for both part and full time study. English students will only benefit from the 2.8% increase detailed above. Wonkhe have an informative blog with comparisons. The uplift for Welsh postgraduate students and disabled students is more modest at 1.4%. Wonkhe say: The discrepancy is grounded in the use of an Office for Budget Responsibility projection of inflation in 2024 – although Wales is using a lower figure to that used in England’s maintenance uplift announced last week. The full detail on these changes to Welsh student finance is here.

Graduate Outcomes: An Institute for Fiscal Studies report suggests that young people who graduated into the pandemic suffered no lasting effects on careers, but the next two waves of graduates face a double whammy. The research found that:

The cohort that graduated in 2020, particularly those with university degrees, initially experienced worse outcomes. They struggled to find work immediately after graduation and were less likely to receive on-the-job training, and those with degrees started in lower-paid occupations than previous cohorts.
However, the rapid economic recovery and boom in jobs vacancies allowed them to quickly recover lost ground. One to two years into their careers, they do not appear to have lower employment rates or worse job quality than previous cohorts.
The cohorts that entered the labour market in 2019 and 2021 fared no worse than previous cohorts across a number of job quality measures. Up to one year after graduation (and up to two years for the 2019 cohort), they were no less likely to be in full-time, permanent jobs, to work in high-paid or professional occupations, to receive on-the-job training, or to work for a large firm.
There were no significant differences by parental background on these measures of job quality – perhaps surprising given the lack of formal internships over the pandemic.

The report does note, however, that this doesn’t mean the pandemic cohorts earnings won’t stagnate and that some of the pandemic’s negative effects may not have materialised yet.

There are increased concerns for the vulnerability of the students about to graduate as the labour market cools and because the final years of education were disrupted by the pandemic and the predicted forthcoming prolonged recession makes for a difficult graduate job market.

NUS – antisemitism

The National Union of Students (NUS) published Independent investigation into allegations of antisemitism within NUS by Rebecca Tuck KC which was commissions after a series of allegations and parliamentary pressure during the latter half of 2022. It highlights poor relations and that Jewish students may not feel comfortable attending NUS events and that across the last 17 years Jewish students have perceived this culture as hostile. She also states that antisemitism was not limited to Israeli-related examples such as holding Jewish students responsible for the acts of the Israeli state or comparing Israeli policy to Nazism, but has also seen the employing of ancient antisemitic tropes, from blood libels to Rothschild conspiracies.

Tuck also did not concur with concerns over the IHRA definition of antisemitism (see page 109 for the detail). She concludes I do not consider that revisiting the definition of antisemitism is going to move the NUS towards more meaningful, and less harmful engagement between students on the topic of Israel/Palestine.

Recommendations (see page 112 onwards for the detail):

Advisory panel
Record keeping
Due diligence for election candidates
Review complaints process
Antisemitism training
Create materials to lead the way – exploring “example models of dialogue around Israel/Palestine and disseminate good practice”.
Experienced facilitator to support discussion about Israel/Palestine for next 2 years
Revive ARAF committee (Anti Racist Anti-Fascist)
Surveying Jewish students
Consider an external speaker policy
Governance review

NUS responded that the report: is a detailed and shocking account of antisemitism within the student movement. It is a truly difficult read for all of us but we welcome the clarity it brings to enable us to act with confidence to tackle antisemitism head on. There is no place for antisemitism within NUS and we are committed to ensuring that Jewish students feel safe and welcome in every corner of our movement.

Our priority now is to take forward the recommendations from Rebecca Tuck KC’s independent report to tackle antisemitism in all its forms across the breadth and depth of NUS.

We have developed an action plan which will help us achieve this, but it is vital that we listen and learn from others, which is why we are setting up an Advisory Panel to scrutinise this plan and oversee its implementation.

Matt Western, Shadow HE Minister responded: Many of the findings in Rebecca Tuck KC’s independent Report are deeply worrying and should concern us all. Antisemitism has no place in society and must be stamped out wherever it is found. I am pleased to see the NUS accept the findings of the Report and recognise the need for change. Students deserve to feel safe, supported, and welcome on campus. I look forward to seeing the NUS implement their action plan over the coming weeks, working with the Jewish student community.

Parliamentary Questions

Student Loans – impact of interest during deferral for medical reasons
Adequate financial support for students in private rented accommodation

Degree/Higher apprenticeships

The DfE published apprenticeships statistics (England only). Degree and higher apprenticeships continue to make up substantial proportion of apprenticeships starts but figures are relatively stable between years.

Advanced apprenticeships accounted for nearly a half of starts (43.3% or 151,300 starts).
Higher apprenticeships accounted for nearly a third of starts (30.5% or 106,400 starts).
Under 19s accounted for 22.2% of starts (77,500).
Starts supported by Apprenticeship Service Account (ASA) levy funds accounted for 64.6% (225,600).
Starts at Level 6 and 7 increased by 10.3% to 43,200 in 2021/22. This represents 12.4% of all starts reported for 2021/22. There were 39,200 Level 6 and 7 starts in the same period last year (12.2% of starts in the same period).

Value for money

The Education Select Committee quizzed Minister Robert Halfon. Halfon emphasised the importance of career training, and championing apprenticeships and skills and promoting lifelong learning. He stated the need to increase investment in skills and to explore data that looked for skills deficits as well as looking at deficits in specific regional areas. He also referenced investing in T-levels and specifically focussed on employer engagement.

Specifically on HE Committee member Miriam Cates MP compared the funding of FE and HE querying whether HE provided value for money. The minister stated he welcomed the impact and successes of both sectors and suggested that he wanted the sector to focus on social justice and bringing the most disadvantaged the opportunities to get enter higher or further education. However, Cates pressed on stating the need for a full review of joined up education post-16, not just 16 to 18, asserting that the investment in higher education did not result in the relative job prosperity after.

Admissions

Minister Halfon provided an update statement on the rationalisation of pre-HE qualifications. He highlighted how qualifications which overlapped with T levels have been removed (excluding A levels which remain). However the alternative academic and technical qualification within scope of the Government’s review will need to demonstrate that they serve a clear and distinct purpose and meet new quality and funding criteria to continue to be publicly funded from 2025. This has an impact on HE because courses that include progression to HE will be under the microscope. The ministerial statement confirmed such courses must demonstrate evidence of demand and a clear statement of why the qualification is needed as well as meet regulatory requirements.

Finally the Minister states: Our reforms do not constitute a binary choice between T Levels and A levels. We have listened to feedback and recognise the need for additional qualifications, including alternative qualifications such as some BTECs designed to be taken as part of a mixed study programme including A levels. These alternative qualifications are an important part of how we will support diverse student needs and deliver skills that employers need for a productive future economy, in areas that A levels and T Levels do not cover. In addition, the T Level Transition Programme provides a high-quality route onto T Levels, for students who would benefit from the additional study time and preparation that it will give them before they start their T Level.

In a parliamentary question this week Minister Halfon highlighted that UCAS expect the number of UK and overseas HE applicants will reach one million by 2026/27 (see page 3).

Access and Participation

There was a good ding dong in the Lords as peers pushed the Minister over Social Mobility Commission issues on 12 January – read this short text for more details. Previously Katharine Birbalsingh then Chair of the Social Mobility Commission announced she was stepping down as Chair because her controversial opinions were doing more harm than good, and placed the commission in jeopardy. Catherine was informally called ‘Britain’s strictest headteacher’ and a right-wing culture warrior. She spoke about her decision to stand down is Schools Week stating she brought with her too much baggage. Deputy Commissioner Alun Francis again steps up as interim Chair. Research Professional covered the story in a short article. Katherine’s letters can be read here.

Social Mobility Commission (SMC) catch up:
In 2022 the SMC set out a fresh approach to social mobility, moving away from the notion that social mobility should just be about the “long” upward mobility from the bottom into the top.

In June the SMC published their State of the Nation annual report. The report showcased their new Social Mobility Index, a rigorous new framework for measuring social mobility over time. Each year, they will report on mobility outcomes, intermediate outcomes, and the drivers of social mobility (the background conditions that enable social mobility to happen).

2023 will see the publication of the next State of the Nation report, in which the SMC will also overlay these metrics by UK regions, and give additional breakdowns by other characteristics including sex, ethnicity and disability. These breakdowns will connect personal characteristics to a place, and can help to inform early thinking about policy solutions.

Appointment: Professor John McKendrick has been appointed as the new Commissioner for Fair Access to Higher Education in Scotland.

Parliamentary Question: Supporting foster care young people in university

International

Wonkhe: further signs that a crackdown on international students is coming,

HEPI published a new policy note which they state reveals a lack of understanding among employers of the post-study work rights of international students in the UK, despite the fact the Graduate Route visa could offer the answer to many current skills shortages.

Other news

Block teaching: THE article on block teaching – Brick by brick: Advocates of “block teaching” are teaming up in a new association in an attempt to hasten its adoption by universities worldwide.

Diversity: THE article: The term “BAME” hides the nuanced identities of academics of colour. EDI efforts must be intersectional if they’re to nurture all marginalised groups, write four female academics in the UK.

Funding boost for 16-19 providers: On 9 January the government announced increased funding rates worth an additional £125 million for providers delivering 16-19 education from 2023/24. Minister Halfon has long been a supporter of increased funding for FE and this funding decision may demonstrate his effective campaigning in this area, alongside a PM who states education is why he got into politics.

PMQs – Social Mobility: David Johnson MP raised about universities and employers playing their part in ensuring social mobility during week’s parliamentary questions. PM Sunak responded that the Social Mobility Commission was promoting social mobility in the UK and provided toolkits to employers.

Training investment: The CBI Education & Skills survey revealed that fewer employers are prepared to increase the investment in the training of their employee during the next year. Intention to support increased training has fallen from 53% in 2021 to 38% currently. The data also revealed that few employers are aware of the Government’s schemes for training such as the Lifelong Loan Entitlement, Local Skills Improvement Plans, or T levels. However, 75% of firms supported extending the Apprenticeship Levy to other forms of accredited/regulated training.

Free Speech keen to appoint: Research Professional state the Telegraph reports that a shortlist has been drawn up for the position of free speech tsar at the Office for Students—this is despite the government’s bill not yet having achieved royal assent. The paper reports that the shortlist for the £99,164-a-year job at the OfS includes Higher Education Policy Institute director Nick Hillman. However, The Telegraph describes University of Cambridge philosophy professor and Spiked Online columnist Arif Ahmed as the “frontrunner” to land the role.

And we have another OfS blog on free speech

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[1] The last change was in 2017 when the cap that applies to most courses was increased from £9000 to £9250

13 January 2023

The PhD viva and then….

Centre for Excellence in Learning, international, PG research, Publishing, student research, Women's Academic Network, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Today the Journal of Education and Research published online our paper ‘Reflections on Variations in PhD Viva Regulations: “And the Options Are …”’. [1] The paper outlines that examining PhD research in the form of a doctoral thesis is specialist work, which is why few people know the potential variations. This paper highlights the different options that are available for PhD examiners. There are four general options: (1) pass, (2) rewrite and resubmit; (3) lower degree, with or without resubmission; and (4) fail the PhD. However, from our experience, of both being examined for our own PhDs and examining others at a range of different universities, we have noted a considerable variety in detail within these common options. This paper outlines a variety of outcomes of a PhD examination, followed by four short case studies, each reflecting on a particular aspect /differences we experienced as examinees or as examiners. This paper further aims to alert PhD candidates and examiners to study the examination rules set by the awarding university, as the details of the PhD examination outcome, and hence the options available to both examiners and the students may differ more than one might expect.

This publication adds to our earlier work on the roles of PhD supervisors providing in-depth discipline-specific Public Health knowledge and technical (e.g., methodological) support to the students, encouraging them towards publications or conference presentations, offering pastoral support for student wellbeing, and finally preparing them to defend their thesis by conducting a mock viva. Our earlier paper focused on the responsibilities, opportunities, and sometimes the challenging nature of being a PhD supervisor in the field of Public Health in Nepal. [2]

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

References:

van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, B., Regmi, P. ., Simkhada , P. ., Hundley, V. ., Poudel, K. C. (2022). Reflections on Variations in PhD Viva Regulations: “And the Options Are …”. Journal of Education and Research, 12(2), 61-74. https://doi.org/10.51474/jer.v12i2.624
Regmi, P., Poobalan, A., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2021). PhD supervision in public health. Health Prospect, 20(1), 1-4.

12 January 2023

It is all about experience

Delicious links, international, Knowledge Exchange, PG research, Publishing, student research, Women's Academic Network, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

This week we published a paper on the experience of conducting fieldwork in the public health field in the Journal of Health Promotion. [1] Fieldwork is usually a crucial part of PhD research, not only in the health field. However, few researchers write about this, often challenging, process. This paper highlights various occasions where fieldwork in the area of public health, health promotion or community health was more difficult than expected or did not go as planned. Our reflections on working in the field are aimed at less experienced researchers to support them in their research development. Moreover, this paper is also calling upon health researchers to share more details about the process of doing fieldwork and its trials and tribulations. Our key advice is to be inquisitive and open-minded around fieldwork, followed by: be prepared for your fieldwork, conduct a risk assessment of what might go wrong, and consider your resources and options to overcome such trials and tribulations. Fieldwork can be unpredictable. We believe it is important to share practical lessons from the field which helps other to better understand these tribulations, and learn from them. Finally, sharing such information may guide new researchers and help them identify strategies that can address those issues and challenges in their future studies.

Dr. Preeti Mahato (at Royal Holloway, University of London), Dr Bibha Simkhada and Prof. Padam Simkhada (both based at the University of Huddersfield) are all BU Visiting Faculty. Moreover, I have had the pleasure of acting as PhD supervisor for five of my co-authors. I have included in this blog what is probably my favourite fieldwork photo taken a decade ago by former BU PhD student Dr. Sheetal Sharma.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH (Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health)

References:

Mahato, P., Tamang, P., Simkhada, B., Wasti, S. P., Devkota, B., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E.R. (2022) Reflections on health promotion fieldwork in Nepal: Trials and tribulations. Journal of Health Promotion 10(1): 5–12. https://doi.org/10.3126/jhp.v10i1.50978

10 January 2023

Two new papers by Dr. Pramod Regmi

international, open access, PG research, Publishing, student research, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Congratulations to Dr. Pramod Regmi on having two papers published in the latest issue of the Journal of Health Promotion which appeared online this week. The first paper reports on eight focus group discussions (FGDs) which explored: (a) perceptions of and motives toward social media re. sexual communication in educated unmarried young people in Nepal; and (b) their views of the link between social media and risky sexual behaviour. [1] These FDGs were audio recorded, transcribed and thematically analyzed. All FGD participants were students (age range 15-22) from Kathmandu. Five themes emerged from the thematic analysis: a) use of and motives for using social media; b) sex education in general; c) sexual information through social media; d) social media’s role in forming romantic and sexual relationships; and e) negative experience of social media.

The second paper ‘Forgotten health and social care needs of left-behind families of Nepali migrant workers’ is led by FHSS PhD student Yagya Adhikari. This paper focuses on Pramod’s other research interest of the health and well-being of Nepali migrant workers. [2] The journal Journal of Health Promotion is freely available online through Open Access. Pramod is Senior Lecturer in International Health as well as Global Engagement Lead in the Department of Nursing Sciences.

Well done!

Professor Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH (Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health)

References:

Regmi, P.R., van Teijlingen, E.R., Silwal, R.C., Dhital, R. (2022) Role of social media for sexual communication and sexual behaviors: A focus group study among young people in Nepal. Journal of Health Promotion, 10(1):153–166.
Adhikari, Y.R., Regmi, P.R., Devkota, B., van Teijlingen, E.R. (2022) Forgotten health and social care needs of left-behind families of Nepali migrant workers. Journal of Health Promotion, 10(1):1–4.

9 January 2023

Nepal publication PhD student Yayga Adhikari

international, open access, Publishing, student research, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Congratulation to FHSS PhD student on the publication of his article ‘Forgotten health and social care needs of left-behind families of Nepali migrant workers’ [1]. Yagya’s Ph.D. research title is “Parental migration and its impact on health and well-being of left-behind adolescents in Nepal” and his research is supervised by Dr. Pramod Regmi and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen. The Journal of Health Promotion is Open Access and hence freely available across the globe for anybody with internet access.

Reference:

Adhikari, Y.R., Regmi, P.R., Devkota, B., van Teijlingen, E.R. (2022) Forgotten health and social care needs of left-behind families of Nepali migrant workers. Journal of Health Promotion, 10(1):1–4. https://doi.org/10.3126/jhp.v10i1.50976

9 January 2023

New Frontiers in Neuroscience: Neuroimaging and Integrative Multi-Sensing Methods (room update -Inspire LT)

Industry collaboration, international, NHS ebballester

We would like to cordially invite you to the 2^nd symposium of the BU’s Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Research Centre on next Monday the 16^th of January 2023 from 9:00-13:00 at the Inspire Lecture Theatre, Fusion Building first floor (room updated).

The symposium is entitled “New Frontiers in Neuroscience: Neuroimaging and Integrative Multi-Sensing Methods”. We will focus on these two themes from a cross-disciplinary angle, leveraging synergies between different departments at BU and our collaborators in other universities, industry, charities, and at the NHS. We think that this is a good opportunity to have informal discussions on grant proposals, also to explore shared interests with our external guests.

The schedule is:

9:00-9:15 Welcome and coffee.

9:30. Keynote talk: Prof. Mavi Sanchez-Vives, Biomedical Research Institute IDIBAPS, Barcelona (Leader of Human Brain Project Work Package 2 -Networks underlying brain cognition and consciousness-). “Brain States and Consciousness Studies in the Human Brain Project”. This talk will be online, projected on the screen. All the rest of the talks will be presential.

10.20-10:40. Coffee.

10:40-11:40. Session I. Integrating Multi-sensing approaches and Industrial Applications.

Prof. Fred Charles (Creative Technology, FST, BU). “Multimodal Immersive Neuro-sensing approaches -introduction to the MINE cluster”.
Dr. Ifigeneia Mavridou (EmteqLabs, Sussex Innovation Centre). “Investigating affective responses to VR environments”.
Dr. Federica Degno (Psychology Department, FST, BU). “Co-Registration of Eye Movements and EEG”.

11.40 -12.00. Coffee and grants discussion.

12.00-13:00. Session II. Neuroimaging and Clinical Neuroscience. Concluding remarks.

Dr. Ruth Williamson (Deputy Chief Medical Officer, UHD; Consultant Radiologist). “The effect of cold-water immersion on brain function”.
Prof. Carol Clark (Rehabilitation and Sport Sciences, HSS, BU). “Measuring the brain structure, function and cognition of women currently engaged in sporting activities”.
Prof. Brigitte Vollmer (Southampton General Hospital, Southampton University). “Neurodevelopmental trajectories and neural correlates in children with neonatal Hypoxic Ischaemic Encephalopathy”.

Please, feel free to forward this email to any colleague/students who may be interested. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact any of us (Ellen Seiss, eseiss@bournemouth.ac.uk, Emili Balaguer-Ballester eb-ballester@bournemouth.ac.uk). For those of you who cannot make it, we will use Zoom, and it will be recorded (please see the Zoom link below this post).

After the event and having some lunch (can be bought in the same building) there are follow-up activates, if you wish to:

In the same lecture theatre, at 14h, there will be a very interesting talk, sponsored by the MINE cluster-Department of Psychology seminars, by Dr. Benjamin Schoene (Universität Osnabrück), entitled “The Brain in Virtual Reality: A Novel Perspective on Psychological Science”.
The talk will be followed by a visit to the Multimodal Immersive Neuro-sensing lab for natural neuro-behavioural measurement, which is just next to the Fusion Building (MINE lab, Tolpuddle Annex 1, TAG02) .

Thank you very much, we are looking forward to seeing you on Monday.

Kind regards,

Ellen and Emili

Emili Balaguer-Ballester is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Join Zoom Meeting

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7 January 2023

ADDISONIC Lab Now Up and Running!

Awarded & submitted bids, BU Challenges, Industry collaboration, innovation, international dmontalvao

The ADDISONIC, a lab in Poole House 2nd floor with the capacity for fatigue-accelerated testing of materials at Bournemouth University, is now up and running. We are now looking for research collaboration opportunities, so if you know anyone in the industry who requires help in this exciting new field or you are interested in developing the many research aspects in this area, please get in touch with us. We would be delighted if you could share your thoughts (and problems!) with us so that we can explore ways for future collaboration.

Please watch this exciting video that Mambo Media produced at: ADDISONIC – finding new ways of fatigue testing materials – YouTube

If you want to learn more, you can also check the ADDISONIC webpage.

Finally, please see here our latest publication here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prostr.2022.12.155.

Any questions? Please contact me on dmontalvao@bournemouth.ac.uk

I am looking forward to hearing from you soon. 🙂

6 January 2023

BU research mentioned in The Washington Post

international, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Today The Washington Post mentioned Bournemouth University’s research into kidney disease in migrant workers from Nepal. Our research was highlighted in an article with the title ‘The world’s torrid future is etched in the crippled kidneys of Nepali workers‘ written by journalist Gerry Shih. Dr. Pramod Regmi and Dr. Nirmal Aryal, both in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences, are leading on a research project on kidney health and migrant workers. The paper mentioned in The Washington Post is titled: ‘Risk of kidney health among returnee Nepali migrant workers: A survey of nephrologists’ [1]. This survey paper was published just over a year ago, in late 2021, and it was preceded by other papers on this issue [2-3].

Dr. Pramod Regmi is Senior Lecturer in International Health and, Dr. Nirmal Aryal recently returned to BU as researcher on a study into kidney disease among Nepalese migrant workers (funded by the Colt Foundation).

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

References

Aryal, N., Sedhain, A., Regmi, P.R., KC, R.K.,& van Teijlingen, E. (2021). Risk of kidney health among returnee Nepali migrant workers: A survey of nephrologists. Asian Journal of Medical Sciences, 12(12), 126–132.
Aryal, N., Regmi, P.R., Faller, E.M,, van Teijlingen, E., Khoon, C.C., Pereira, A., Simkhada, P. (2019) Sudden cardiac death and kidney health related problems among Nepali migrant workers in Malaysia, Nepal Journal of Epidemiology 9(3): 755-758.
Simkhada, P.P., Regmi, PR., van Teijlingen, E., Aryal, N. (2017) Identifying the gaps in Nepalese migrant workers’ health & well-being: A review of literature, Journal of Travel Medicine 24(4): 1-9.

3 January 2023

First BU paper of 2023

international, open access, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

The first paper in the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences (FHSS) for 2023 appeared online today. The open access journal NursingOpen (publisher Wiley) add our paper ‘Stakeholders’ perceptions of continuing professional development among Nepalese nurses: A focus group study’. [1] The lead author Dr Bibha Simkhada and co-author Prof. Padam Simkhada are both Visiting Faculty at Bournemouth University. The paper reports on a study into stakeholders’ perceptions of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in nursing in Nepal. It is worth noting that nurses (and midwives) in Nepal have to renew their nursing licence every six years with the Nepal Nursing Council. However, there are no requirements of having completed any CPD in this post-registration renewal process, or to show any evidence of on-the-job learning. This qualitative study generated three major themes: (a) policy level including the national situation of CPD, political influence and training guided by the policy; (b) organizational level incorporating perceptions towards forms of CPD, staff shortage, poor staff retention, seniority for training, financial constraints and lack of continuity of training; and (c) individual level including motivation for training and lack of relevant training. It is the third paper from work supported by FHSS QR funding [2-3]

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH (Cenre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health)

References:

Simkhada, B., van Teijlingen, ER., Panday, A., Sharma, S.C., Simkhada, P., Singh, D.R. (2023) Stakeholders’ perceptions of continuing professional development among Nepalese nurses: A focus group study, NursingOpen (online first https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.1586)
Simkhada, B, Mackay, S, Khatri, R., Sharma, CK., Pokhrel, T, Marahatta, S, Angell, C, van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P (2016) Continual Professional Development (CPD): Improving Quality of Nursing Care in Nepal, Health Prospect 15 (3):1-3.
Khatri, R., van Teijlingen, E., Marahatta, S., Simkhada, P., Mackay, S., Simkhada, B. (2021) Exploring the Challenges and Opportunities for Continuing Professional Development of Nurses: A Qualitative Study with Senior Nurse Leaders in Nepal. Journal of Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences, 7(1); 15–29.

3 January 2023

HE Policy Update w/e 21st December 2022

international, open accecss, Student Engagement jforster

There’s something for everyone in this final policy update of 2022. Although things have calmed down a bit as we approach the festive period there is still lots of news. We’ve kept matters as light as possible for you with links to more information for those that wish to read more. Here’s wishing you all a relaxing break, happy Christmas and a good start to the New Year.

Parliamentary News

Parliamentary session to continue: It’s been confirmed that the King’s Speech (and therefore, the State Opening of Parliament in 2023) will be delayed allowing more time for the Government to pass its legislative agenda. This is because when the Parliamentary session is closed any outstanding legislation drops away automatically unless a carry-over motion is passed to enable it to continue. (You’ll recall the Freedom of Speech (HE) Bill was carried over from the previous session because the Government is determined to get it on the statute books). The monarch then re-opens parliament with a speech setting out the Government’s legislative plans for the coming months. The Government indicated they plan to dissolve Parliament in Autumn 2023 meaning the new parliamentary session may begin in November 2023. The Prime Minister’s spokesperson said: “The programme is very full and to make sure we have the time we need to get through the packed agenda the Prime Minister wants to deliver, the session will run until autumn 2023.” A cynic might mention it’s also getting awfully close to the next general election. Both Houses will return from recess on the 9 January.

HE priorities: Education Select Committee session: HE Minister Robert Halfon was examined by the Education select committee and HE received a brief mention. Miriam Cates MP queried whether HE funded provided value for money considering the lower funding settlement received by FE institutions. Halfon stated he welcomed the impact and successes of both sectors and suggested that he wanted the sector to focus on social justice and bringing the most disadvantaged the opportunities to get enter higher or further education. This is a personal agenda for Halfon and he has been very open about his interest in social justice, social mobility and accessibility/performance of HE institutions in supporting disadvantage. Cates was unimpressed with Halfon’s response and pressed for a full review of joined up education post-16, not just 16 to 18, stating that the investment in HE did pay off in terms of jobs and prosperity.

Spring budget announced: Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will deliver the Spring Budget on 15 March 2023. This fulfils the obligation to produce two forecasts in a financial year (required by law).

HERA – the Christmas edition

The DfE published their policy paper assessing the Higher Education and Research Act 2017: post-legislative scrutiny. HERA was a major change to HE operations and was pushed through the Commons (against substantial Lords backlash) by Jo Johnson in 2017. It established the OfS and UKRI in their current form.

Although the paper seems to have come out of the blue the DfE are expected to do this for each major piece of legislation within their remit after the first 5 years. As the paper is written for the Education select committee we may well see a new inquiry in this field in the new year.

Even if you’re not interested in the paper per se it has an interesting synopsis of the sector from page 8 onwards. And what is a Christmas edition of anything without a review of the major occurrences over the last (5) years? Here are the ‘high’lights we’ve contended with:

Left EU
Global pandemic and all that implied: changed social and economic environment and remote/hybrid/blended learning
New regulatory and funding system
Revolving door for ministers each with their own stamp on specific priorities (printing and accommodation costs, free speech, antisemitism, university advertising, post qualification admissions, the role of universities in school performance
All the big things: disadvantage, quality and outcomes, Lifelong Loan Entitlements, degree apprenticeships, T levels, broader structural HE reform. Cue the adverts… phew!

On the paper Wonkhe say: It is meant to properly reflect on the act – what has worked, what hasn’t, and what needs to change, with a view to making sure we have the best law we can. The publication we got made a start – and there are some eyebrow-raising lines in there about the way the underlying assumptions and government policy have shifted, often quite radically. They have a blog for those who enjoy Wonkhe’s analyses: David Kernohan wonders if we really have the system that was asked for.

Regulatory & Free Speech

HE (Freedom of Speech) Bill

The HE (Freedom of Speech) Bill received its third reading in the House of Lords. The Lords made more amendments and have passed it back to the House of Commons. So we are now in the final stage of ‘ping pong’ where the Commons and Lords tussle over the ultimate wording before the Bill passes to the King for Royal Assent.

The Third Reading was a calm affair but the Lords didn’t roll over. Minister for the School System and Student Finance, Baroness Barran, stated she was pleased to have introduced a definition of “freedom of speech” to the Bill and that this was one of the many important clarifications as a result of their discussions in the House (during Report Stage). She also confirmed they had avoided inadvertently giving alumni the same protections as current students and had clarified that the new power given to the OfS to give guidance on supporting freedom of speech was not related to the duty on higher education providers and their constituent colleges to promote the importance of freedom of speech and academic freedom. She recognised as a breakthrough the banning of non-disclosure agreements in cases of sexual misconduct, abuse or harassment, or other forms of bullying. However, the proposed right to bring a civil claim in the courts against universities remains a big bone of contention. The Peers voted to remove it during the Report Stage and Baroness Barran said the Government would “reflect on this verdict and the arguments advanced to support it very carefully indeed.”

Lord Wallace spoke about the appointment of the new OfS free speech director. He asked the Government to “take particular care in finding a candidate for that position who will be accepted—possibly even welcomed—by the sector he or she sets out to regulate.” This reminds us of the controversy of partisan appointments that dogged Boris Johnson’s premiership.

Lord Wallace also drew attention to the outstanding question of the degree of overlap between this Bill, the recent National Security and Investment Act and the current National Security Bill, all of which imposed new duties and reporting requirements on universities. This has still not been fully resolved.

Baroness Thornton, Shadow Equalities Spokesperson, said “the jury it still out” on whether the Bill was necessary at all, but she was confident the legislation was being sent back to the Commons in an improved state. She drew attention to other outstanding matters, such as the role of the students’ unions. She also agreed with concerns around the risk of duplicating security regulations, and the risk that the Bill might pose to the business community, the commercial relations and the trading futures of universities.

Baroness Fox of Buckley (Non-Affiliated) said she hoped the Commons would “restore some version of Clause 4 and material remedies for victims of cancel culture on campus”.

THE have a blog: Tortious debates – The Westminster government is tipped to succeed in a battle with peers who are “unwilling to compromise” on a clause allowing universities to be sued over perceived breaches of their free speech duties.
Wonkhe analysis blog: On Wonk Corner, Jim Dickinson reflects on the Office for Students free speech event, and wonders whether Conservative Way Forward really knows the way forward.
The OfS has also published a new Insights brief setting out the current regulatory and legal landscape for freedom of speech, summarising the current evidence, and stating that universities must embrace the widest range of lawful views.
Hepi blog: No Platform: Speaker Events at University Debating Unions

OfS Annual Review: The OfS published its annual review. In her commentary of the report, OfS Chief Executive Susan Lapworth, sets out the key OfS priorities for 2023 including how tackling poor quality provision, ensuring students from all backgrounds are able to enter higher education and succeed in their studies, and protecting freedom of speech on campus are the key priorities for the OfS in 2023.

Parliamentary Questions: Regulatory

Matt Western (Shadow Universities Minister) asked some interesting questions regarding OfS funding:

Whether the Government intend to review the sustainability of the funding given to support the monitoring and intervention functions of the Office for Students ahead of responsibilities conferred upon the regulator under the Higher Education
Whether the Government has discussed with the Office for Students the potential merits of uprating the registration fee charged to providers in line with the rate of inflation for the 2023-24 academic year.

In response to a parliamentary question Robert Halfon (Universities Minister) confirmed that the department’s priorities for higher education are consistent with those set out in guidance to the Office for Students (OfS) earlier this year. This includes a continued focus on delivering the government’s skills mission, driving up quality and ensuring equality of opportunity and real social mobility for students. The Government will only issue the OfS with new guidance for the current financial year if new issues or priorities emerge.

Matt Western also asked: whether a review of the potential changes required to the admissions system for HE course in advance of the delivery of the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (2024/25) has been conducted. Robert Halfon responded:

To support the design and delivery of the Lifelong Loan Entitlement (LLE) from 2025, the department will continue to engage with sector bodies across both further education and higher education, as well as the Student Loans Company and regulatory bodies.
On admissions, the department is continuing to work with UCAS and sector bodies to improve transparency, reduce the use of unconditional offers, and reform the personal statement to improve fairness for applicants of all backgrounds.
The LLE consultation and other ongoing engagements are an important part of delivering a transformation of student finance. The department is carefully considering the contributions and will publish a response in due course.

Research

Pro-innovation regulation

The Treasury published a policy paper: Pro-Innovation Regulation of Technologies Project: Terms of Reference which announces a review considering how to regulate emerging technologies.

Pro-innovation regulation focuses on ensuring that we can safely and ethically accelerate the development, testing, route to market and uptake of new technology products. It should give confidence to innovators. This is key to making the UK an attractive destination for R&D projects, manufacturing and investment, and ensuring we can realise the economic and social benefits of new technologies as quickly as possible.

The Treasury also announced the appointment of five industry experts to help accelerate the development and deployment of emerging technologies in the following key UK growth sectors:

digital technology
green industries
life sciences
advanced manufacturing
creative industries.

Experts will collaborate with industry and Sir Patrick Vallance to advise on new rules that use regulatory freedom to promote innovation. The aim of the review is to establish the UK as the best regulated economy ensuring that industry and investors have the certainty needed to drive innovation, investment and growth through anticipating new developments in emerging technologies. The experts are:

Matt Clifford, Chair of the new Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA), and Priya Lakhani OBE, a member of the AI Council, have been appointed to support work to harness new digital technology such as artificial intelligence.

Sir John Bell, sits on Genomics England’s board of directors, and Camilla Fleetcroft, Eclevar UK’s Vice-President of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs, will work on cultivating the life sciences sector and help drive the next generation of discoveries, such as delivering genomics-enabled clinical trials.

Jane Toogood, Chief Executive of Catalyst Technologies at Johnson Matthey, will take forward work on building green industries like hydrogen and battery development in the UK.

Future Research Assessment Programme

UKRI/Research England published three reports on the Future Research Assessment Programme (FRAP). Taken together the reports speak out against a fully metricised system for the next REF but do suggest ways in which AI might support low risk areas of the exercise. The reports are:

Harnessing the metric tide: indicators, infrastructures and priorities for responsible research assessment in the UK
Responsible use of technology in research assessment
REF outputs analysis: maximising the use of REF data

Quick news:

Horizon Europe extension: The Government announced an extension to the support provided to UK Horizon Europe applicants, originally launched in November 2021. The extension will ensure that eligible, successful UK applicants will continue to be guaranteed funding. The guarantee will be in place to cover all Horizon Europe calls that close on or before 31 March 2023. Eligible, successful applicants to Horizon Europe will receive the full value of their funding at their UK host institution for the lifetime of their grant. Successful awardees do not need to leave the UK to receive this funding, which will provide reassurance for future collaborations, and support UK researchers whether association is confirmed, or otherwise.

Science Minister, George Freeman, has been busy recently:

Spoke at a THE event at Keio University (Japan) running through major research areas, funding and targets.
Separately, he also announced the launch of a new global international science partnership in Tokyo

Wonkhe blog: The International Science Partnerships Fund is out, and James Coe thinks it has implications for UK research post Horizon.

The Lords Science and Technology Committee wrote to the Minister for Science, Research and Innovation George Freeman with the findings of its inquiry into people and skills in UK STEM. And THE has a blog on the topic: Academic careers: Teetering progress: A House of Lords committee has warned that the precarity of academic careers is exacerbating the UK’s growing skills gap in STEM.

HEPI blog: Research Leadership Matters: Agility, Alignment, Ambition

Graduate outcomes and employment

Sir John Holman, Independent Strategic Adviser on Careers Guidance wrote to DfE and DWP Minister regarding England’s careers guidance system.The letter summarises his recommendations for the future of the careers guidance system. It draws upon 18 months’ of consultation and conversations with careers practitioners and sector representatives, employers, schools, colleges, local bodies and a range of other interested parties, as well as a review of available evidence from the DfE, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the wider sector. You can read Holman’s recommendations (9 Strategic Principles) here. It’s worth a read, put it on your January list! HE and Skills Minister Robert Halfon welcomed the recommendations and stated he will consider them carefully – and that the Department will publish more information on future plans for the careers guidance system “in due course”.

Graduate employment: A catch up on the news that graduate employers aren’t focussed on degree outcome grade. The Times broke the story. Quickly followed up by Research Professional: The Times reports that fewer than half of graduate employers asked recruits for a 2:1 this year, according to a report by the Institute of Student Employers. And by Wonkhe: For the first time, less than half of graduate employers require a 2:1, new findings from the Institute for Student Employers suggest. The data from its 2022 student recruitment survey – drawn from 168 responses covering 32,110 hires, with larger organisations somewhat overrepresented – saw only 48% of responding employers having such a stipulation for graduate roles, down from 57% in 2021.

Data: The DfE released a new type of LEO data dashboard (and a report) looking at the earnings of individuals post GCSE over a 15 year period. Socioeconomic, demographic and education factors are within the data providing a granular picture. It isn’t directly comparable with the Graduate Outcomes data the HE sector routinely uses as there are small methodological differences, not least the inclusion of non-graduates. The box on page 23 explains the differences. However, it provides a comparator for graduate and non-graduates of the same age (rather than mixed ages with all of the same graduation cohort). For the data buffs page 22 onwards explains the graduate/non-graduate comparators re: the value of a degree.

Key points:

People have diverse employment pathways in their 15 years. Taking into account the 50 most common pathways only accounts for 31% of individuals.
The report aims to show how education and labour market activities and outcomes differ for different groups of individuals despite similar education levels. Particularly, to see how education and labour market outcomes differ for graduates and non-graduates with different individual characteristics.
Higher proportions of individuals completing a degree are in employment, having higher average earnings than those without a degree and with lower proportions claiming out of work benefits.
Higher levels of education lead to better labour market outcomes for all. This compares like with like so an individual with SEN or who was in receipt of free school meals (FSM) has a better labour market outcome than their SEN/FSM counterpart who left education at a lower level.
However, when the comparison is not like with like certain groups have lower labour market outcome than others. Although in these cases those completing a degree have better labour market outcomes than their comparators who do not have a degree. For example, there are higher proportions of graduates that were FSM eligible in employment and lower proportions claiming benefits than non-FSM eligible nongraduates. Of those in employment, the FSM eligible graduates earn around £5,000 more per year than non-FSM eligible nongraduates and their earnings potential seem to have different trajectories.
For a few select sub-groups a higher education level does not always lead to better labour market outcomes than their peers with a lower education level. For example, individuals with a SEN statement even with a degree tend not to outperform those without SEN who only studied to a lower educational level.
There is considerable difference in the earnings trajectories and outcomes for graduate and non-graduate individuals in employment (see Figure 15 below). There is a £10,000 difference in annual average earnings for graduates and non-graduates in employment 15 years after finishing KS4 (for most graduates this is around 8 to 10 years after graduation). Though the curve for graduates flattens after a sharp increase as more graduates join the labour market, it continues to increase at a faster rate than that for non-graduates

The Institute for Fiscal Studies analysed the data in more depth using measures to control multiple background characteristics. They found prior attainment and subject of study at HE level to be very important in determining [financial] returns to degrees. Similarly, this report finds:

Those with poorer attainment at KS4 that go on to complete a degree do not have better labour market outcomes than individuals with better KS4 attainment that do not complete a degree. This is also the case for SEN statemented individuals when compared with those not identified with SEN. However, every other sub-group that completed a degree benefits from the better labour market outcomes due to the degree premium. Table 14 below illustrates this for SEN individuals. If you are interested in this sectionality do read the key findings, paragraph 159 on page 86 onwards as they cover all the groups with lower outcomes in a more granular way.
Black and minority ethnic groups tend to have higher levels of post 16 education, when compared with those from the White British group, yet not necessarily better labour market outcomes
The report states it is novel in that it analyses the data by SEN, first language and school type (in relation to employment outcomes and benefit claims).
Graduates are more likely to be employed than non-graduates, however, there is an interesting regional effect (see Table 18 below). Bear in mind this is based on the individual’s current region (which is not necessarily their key stage 4 region) – yet the rankings by region for those completing a level 3 are exactly the same in table 19 on page 80 – suggesting it’s a regional thing more than a graduate thing

HEPI

HEPI published many interesting papers and blogs over the autumn semester. Here are the most relevant and recent apart from those featured elsewhere:

Responding to the challenges of the OfS’s blended learning review
The challenge of making research accessible outside of academia – Why open access is not enough: Spreading the benefits of research.
How can you help me?: Students’ perspectives on careers services and employment

Students are evenly split on whether or not they regard it as the responsibility of their higher education institution to find them a job, with one-quarter (34%) believing it is and only a slightly lower proportion (30%) saying it is not.

Most students look to their careers service to offer help with finding an internship or placement (63%), writing their curriculum vitae (63%), interview preparation (61%), finding a career (60%) and hosting careers fairs (52%). Providing mentoring and life skills also has substantial support (49%) while far fewer students expect help with finding a holiday job (22%).

A majority of students (53%) think ‘all university courses should be designed mainly with future employment in mind’ and a further 37% say ‘some university courses should be’. Very few students say only ‘a small proportion’ (4%) or no university course (4%) should have a focus on employment.

However, over half of students oppose the proposal in England of providing reduced access to student finance to those opting for courses with poor employment prospects; 53% ‘strongly disagree’ and an additional 16% ‘disagree’.

Nearly one-half of students are either ‘very confident’ (14%) or ‘quite confident’ (32%) that they are likely to find their desired job on graduation but a substantial minority are ‘quite unconfident’ (21%) or ‘very unconfident’ (9%).

When it comes to the type of employer, many students say they do not mind (34%) what size their future employer is. Among those with a preference, a similar proportion chose larger employers (28%) with 250 or more staff than small-to-medium sized enterprises (31%) with 249 staff or fewer.

More students prefer employers who consider characteristics such as work experience and extra-curricular activities (41%) than prefer employers who mostly care about degree results (30%).

When asked what they regard as ‘the best definition of a “graduate-level job”‘, students split three ways: 30% say a graduate-level job is one where an employer requires applicants to have a degree; 29% say it is one that is officially classified as ‘graduate-level’; and 26% say it is a position that pays above the student loan repayment threshold.

Nearly half of students are either ‘very confident’ (16%) or ‘quite confident’ (31%) that they will secure a graduate-level role, while 17% are ‘quite unconfident’ and 8% are ‘very unconfident’.

Around half (49%) of students have not used their careers service to date, which is slightly higher than the proportion who have (43%).

Those who have used a careers service are more satisfied than unsatisfied, with 59% saying they were ‘very happy’ or ‘quite happy’ with the service they received. However, 13% were ‘quite unhappy’ and 7% were ‘very unhappy’.

Those who have not used their careers service were given an opportunity to explain why. Some said they do not know what their careers service has to offer, some believe the careers service would not support their specific career needs and some feel they are too early in their course to consider career planning.

The Future of Digital Learning Resources: Students’ Expectations versus Reality

Students want a single digital learning platform that is easy to use.

The vast majority (87%) of students would like to see digital learning resources streamlined onto a single platform with one, intuitive user experience, where texts are easily readable and navigable. The platform should be compatible across a range of devices and accessible on- and off-campus.

Students want to be able to access digital resources without waiting lists.

Nearly all (95%) of students say digital copies of their course books should be available to them at the point of need, without waiting lists.

Although many students say that they do not worry about being able to access course books through the library when they need them, 59% of students who are impacted by such worries say the wider availability of digital resources would improve their mental health.

Students want digital recordings of their lectures.

The most in-demand digital learning resource is lecture recordings. Students want to see recordings uploaded onto a single, user-friendly platform and for them to be made available for the duration of their courses.

HE Sector Resource

The Institute for Fiscal Studies published its fifth annual report on education spending in England. Here’s the summary of HE spending provided by Dods Political Intelligence:

Up-front spending on teaching resources per higher education student has continued to decline steadily, standing at £9,300 per year for the 2022–23 university entry cohort. That is around £1,700 less per year in real terms than for 2012–13 entrants, largely because the cap on tuition fees is now 18% lower in real terms than it was in 2012–13.
The nominal freeze in fees is set to continue for another two years, adding to other financial pressures on universities. The most important pressure in the near term is likely to be the cost of any settlement with staff over pay and pensions.
A major package of student loans reforms was announced in February and has substantially reduced the expected long-run cost of higher education, shifting a larger share of the cost onto graduates themselves. Changes to future repayment thresholds mean most students from the 2012 to 2022 university entry cohorts can expect to repay substantially more, with middle-earning graduates hit hardest.
From the 2023 entry cohort onwards, a lower repayment threshold, a longer repayment period and a lower interest rate mean most students can expect to repay their loans in full and to repay roughly the same amount as they borrowed in real terms. High earners will no longer pay off more than they borrowed, and only low-earning graduates’ loans will be subsidised by the taxpayer.
For current students, higher-than-expected inflation has eroded the real value of maintenance loans. Students in 2022–23 will be entitled to borrow 10% less towards their living costs than they were in 2020–21, a cut equivalent to £90 a month for the poorest students. Without a change in policy, living cost support for future students will be permanently lower, causing hardship for some.

Admissions, Access & Participation

Disabled students: Wonkhe blog – Endless reports have promised progress on access failures for disabled students – but how much difference has been made? Meg Darroch and Jim Dickinson take some regulatory ideas for a spin.

Disadvantage gaps: The Education Policy Institute published a report on the disadvantage gaps in England during 2021. It finds that much of the reduction in the disadvantage gap over the last decade has been reversed during the pandemic. The report mainly focuses on key stage 4 and 16-19 education. If this report was of interest you may also be interested in Ofsted’s annual report,

HEPI blog: Designing outreach with people of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller heritage – a lesson in critical unlearning and Raising institutional aspirations for supporting Gypsy, Traveller, Roma, Showmen and Boater students in higher education

HEPI blog: Why every university needs an advisor for care leavers and estranged students

Admissions:

Wonkhe blog – There are clear differences in outcomes between A level and BTEC students, who in theory have equivalent grades. Mike Kerrigan is basking in the dashboard light.
HEPI blog: Reforming the UCAS personal statement: Making the case for a series of short questions

HE – massification

Research Professional ran a thought-provoking article describing how the massification of HE has resulted in an unequal and divided workforce as graduate culture permeates companies. It describes ways to rebalance HE to provide vocationally oriented degrees – but this isn’t article just trumpeting skills, it believes HE should be universally funded and as natural as completing secondary schooling. It supports levelling up – although not in quite the same style as the Government originally intended through technologically advanced regions. Also: At the same time, there would need to be a corresponding growth in graduate jobs. This would involve spinouts and cooperative ventures with research universities, incentivised through their endowments to build these kind of links. Regional government would need to be involved in planning health, care and education systems, and the supply of graduate jobs in the health and education sectors would need to be underwritten before graduate employment in private and not-for-profit sectors caught up. It’s alternative in its solutions and it is easy to dismiss the article but closer readers may find aspects that resonate.

International

Transnational £: DfE estimates of the value of transnational education (TNE) for 2020 (this includes education programmes that take place outside the UK, through partner institutions or distance learning or international campuses).

Total UK revenue estimated to be £25.6 billion in 2020, an increase of 0.8% since 2019 in current prices.
HE was the main contributor with £19.5 billion of export revenue – equating to a share of 76.3% of the value of total exports, representing an increase of 6.3 ppts from 2019.
In 2020, international (EU and non-EU) Higher Education students at UK universities generated an estimated £18.0 billion in exports through living expenditure and tuition fees (£15.9 billion in 2019), which accounts for around 70.2% of the total value of education exports and TNE activity (62.6% in 2019).

The National Statistician, Sir Ian Diamond, has explained why international students are included in the net migration figures.

The United Nations definition of a long-term migrant is: “A person who moves to a country other than that of his or her usual residence for a period of at least a year (12 months), so that the country of destination effectively becomes his or her new country of usual residence.” International students will typically live in the UK for more than a year, and so meet the definition of a long-term migrant.
However, we recognise this definition is narrow and doesn’t always meet user needs. We have plans to explore alternative definitions, including estimating net migration by reason, such as study. This will help provide more context to headline measures of migration, addressing recent findings from the ONS research that most international students will leave the UK after their studies are concluded.

Wonkhe blog – For Nick Isles, recent ministerial comments about international students have been dangerously underinformed.

Parliamentary Questions:

The Home Office holds data on the number of dependents an international student brings with them (2022-23).
Baroness Barran on ensuring the UK is welcoming to international students
Border Force – incorrect detention of international students who were not at fault

Inquiries and Consultations

Click here to view the updated inquiries and consultation tracker. There are not any new consultations or inquiries this week.

Other news

Gaming: Grants for R&D and recruitment of video game graduates (parliamentary question).

OIA appointment: The Office of the Independent Adjudicator for HE (OIA) announced the appointment of Helen Megarry as the next Independent Adjudicator. Helen takes up the post in May 2023, and will jointly lead the organisation with Ben Elger, Chief Executive. Megarry is currently the Independent Adjudicator for His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and Valuation Office Agency, and independent reviewer of decisions made under the Windrush Compensation Scheme. She was previously Deputy Housing Ombudsman at the Housing Ombudsman Service, and a Board member of the Ombudsman Association. The current Independent Adjudicator, Felicity Mitchell, will continue to jointly lead the organisation until her term of office concludes at the end of April 2023.

PTES: Earlier this month the 2022 Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey results were released. Research Professional has a nice write up suggesting that satisfaction levels among PGT students have bounced back after hitting record lows during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Power sharing: Gordon Brown’s Commission on the UK’s Future (Labour party) published A New Britain: Renewing our Democracy and Rebuilding our Economy – a report on devolution and constitutional reform. Key points:

A new “constitutional statute” will be written which codifies social rights for citizens and the devolution of power amongst the 4 nations.
Local authorities will be given the opportunity to gain new powers from central government.
A “suite” of R&D programs will aim to drive growth across England via local growth.
The UK Infrastructure Bank will be given an explicit mission to address regional economic inequality in the provision of infrastructure.
Local authorities will be given longer term funding settlements
Local people will have greater input to local authorities spending priorities.
Powers for devolved nations will be broadened
Councils of the Nations and Regions and of England will open opportunities for shared decision making from local government, devolved and national government.
New rules and enforcement procedures for standards in public life.
The House of Lords will be abolished and replaced with an elected 2^ndchamber which will focus on protecting the constitution, devolution and standards in public life.

The report was strongly criticised by Plaid Cymru and the SNP.

Consumer Law: New OfS enforcement deal raises consumer law compliance pressure on universities. Higher education providers in the UK need to step up their efforts to protect students’ rights and comply with consumer laws, an expert has said as the Office for Students (OfS) and National Trading Standards announced a new partnership. The OfS’ partnership with National Trading Standards is a sign that the higher education regulator is moving into “regulatory compliance mode”, according to Rami Labib of Pinsent Masons. Read more.

Fees & Funding: Wonkhe blog – It was a trip down memory lane as graduate tax – and all the reasons to reject it – were rehearsed at a sector event. But the sector needs some bigger thinking on fees and funding soon, argues Jim Dickinson.

Enterprise: The All-Party Parliamentary University Group praised the work of the National Centre for Entrepreneurship in Education in the blog: How can higher education be at the forefront of enterprise and entrepreneurship?,

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1 January 2023

Tourism, marketing and health in 2022

BRIAN, international, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

In his overview of 2022 on LinkedIn Professor Dimitrios Buhalis reminded us that: “The Encyclopedia of Tourism Management and Marketing Marketing was finally published with 1250 entries contributed by 1500 academics from all over the world to produce 4 volumes and 3528 pages. This will work brought together the best thinking process and brains in tourism management to contribute to the rebuilding of the tourism industry, globally, and contribution to communities around the world.”

We are happy to have made a small contribution to this book. Professor Padam Simkhada (BU Visiting Faculty and Professor at the University of Huddersfield) and I contributed the chapter on trekking guides in Nepal and sexual health [1].

Have a happy and healthy 2023!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH)

Reference:

Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen E. (2022) Sexual relationships and trekking guides. In: Encyclopedia of Tourism Management and Marketing, Buhalis, D. (ed.), Cheltenham, Edward Elgar Publishing, pages: 77-79.

31 December 2022

Last BU paper of 2022

Funding opportunities, international, open access, Publishing, Research assessment, Training, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

On the very last day of 2022 the Nepal Journal of Epidemiology published our editorial ‘Guidance to applying for health research grants in the UK’. [1] The lead author is Dr. Brijesh Sathian who is BU Visiting Faculty as well as Deputy Chair for Research in the Geriatrics and Long-term Care Department in Rumailah Hospital based in Doha, Qatar. The paper is written to help researchers in low- and middle-income countries who are interested in applying to UK-based research funders in the health field. This editorial on grant writing adds to the large numbers of papers on many aspects of academic writing and publishing, which have been written by academics in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences. [2-21]

The paper is Open Access and hence freely available to any newbie academic the world with internet access.

Happy New Year!!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery, Maternity & Perinatal Health

References:

Sathian B, van Teijlingen E, Banerjee I, Kabir R. (2022) Guidance to applying for health research grants in the UK. Nepal J Epidemiol 12(4):1231-1234.
Harvey, O., Taylor, A., Regmi, P.R., van Teijlingen, E. (2022) Struggling to reply to reviewers: Some advice for novice researchers. Health Prospect, 21(2):19-22.
Arnold, R., Ireland, J., Mahato, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2022) Writing and publishing a reflective paper: Three case studies, Welhams Acad J 1(1): 4-11.
van Teijlingen, E., Hundley, V, Sathian, B., Simkhada, P., Robinson, J., Banerjee, I. (2022) The Art of the Editorial Nepal J Epidemiol, 12(1): 1135–38.
Harvey, O., van Teijlingen, A., Regmi, P.R., Ireland, J., Rijal, A., van Teijlingen, E.R. (2022) Co-authors, colleagues, and contributors: Complexities in collaboration and sharing lessons on academic writing Health Prospect 21(1):1-3.
Wasti, S.P., van Teijlingen, E., Simkhada, P., Hundley, V. with Shreesh, K. (2022) Writing and Publishing Academic Work, Kathmandu, Nepal: Himal Books
van Teijlingen, E.R., Dhakal Adhikari, S., Regmi, P.R., van Teijlingen, A., Aryal, N., Panday, S. (2021). Publishing, identifiers & metrics: Playing the numbers game. Health Prospect, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.3126/hprospect.v20i1.37391
Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen E., Hundley, V., Simkhada, BD. (2013) Writing an Abstract for a Scientific Conference, Kathmandu Univ Med J 11(3): 262-65. http://www.kumj.com.np/issue/43/262-265.pdf
van Teijlingen, E, Hundley, V. (2002) Getting your paper to the right journal: a case study of an academic paper, J Advanced Nurs 37(6): 506-11.
van Teijlingen, E, Simkhada, PP, Rizyal A (2012) Submitting a paper to an academic peer-reviewed journal, where to start? (Guest Editorial) Health Renaissance 10(1): 1-4.
van Teijlingen, E, Simkhada. PP, Simkhada, B, Ireland J. (2012) The long & winding road to publication, Nepal J Epidemiol 2(4): 213-215 http://nepjol.info/index.php/NJE/article/view/7093/6388
Hundley, V, van Teijlingen, E, Simkhada, P (2013) Academic authorship: who, why and in what order? Health Renaissance 11(2):98-101 www.healthrenaissance.org.np/uploads/Download/vol-11-2/Page_99_101_Editorial.pdf
Simkhada P, van Teijlingen E, Hundley V. (2013) Writing an academic paper for publication, Health Renaissance 11(1):1-5. www.healthrenaissance.org.np/uploads/Pp_1_5_Guest_Editorial.pdf
van Teijlingen, E., Ireland, J., Hundley, V., Simkhada, P., Sathian, B. (2014) Finding the right title for your article: Advice for academic authors, Nepal J Epidemiol 4(1): 344-347.
van Teijlingen E., Hundley, V., Bick, D. (2014) Who should be an author on your academic paper? Midwifery 30: 385-386.
Hall, J., Hundley, V., van Teijlingen, E. (2015) The journal editor: friend or foe? Women & Birth 28(2): e26-e29.
Sathian, B., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Roy, B, Banerjee, I. (2016) Grant writing for innovative medical research: Time to rethink. Med Sci 4(3):332-33.
Adhikari, S. D., van Teijlingen, E. R., Regmi, P. R., Mahato, P., Simkhada, B., & Simkhada, P. P. (2020). The Presentation of Academic Self in The Digital Age: The Role of Electronic Databases. International J Soc Sci Management, 7(1), 38-41. https://doi.org/10.3126/ijssm.v7i1.27405
Pradhan, AK, van Teijlingen, ER. (2017) Predatory publishing: a great concern for authors, Med Sci 5(4): 43.
Pitchforth, E, Porter M, Teijlingen van E, Keenan Forrest, K. (2005) Writing up & presenting qualitative research in family planning & reproductive health care, J Fam Plann Reprod Health Care 31(2): 132-135.
van Teijlingen, E (2004), Why I can’t get any academic writing done, Medical Sociol News 30(3): 62-63. britsoc.co.uk/media/26334/MSN_Nov_2004.pd

29 December 2022

New BU Social Work publication

international, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

Yesterday the European Journal of Social Work published a new article co-authored by Prof. Jonathan Parker in the Department of Social Sciences & Social Work. The paper ‘Alice Salomon: critical social work pioneer’ examines the theory and practice of early German social work researcher, activist, author and educator, Alice Salomon (1872–1948). Salomon’s work is characterised by her orientation on social justice, her internationalism, her concern with the structural inequalities that shape clients’ lives, her sensitivity to oppression in society, and her commitment to feminist social work.

Congratulations!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

Reference:

Kuhlmann, C., Frampton, M., Parker, J. (2022) Alice Salomon: critical social work pioneer, European Journal of Social Work, [online first] DOI:
10.1080/13691457.2022.2161484

28 December 2022

Remember South-Asian migrant workers in the Middle East

international, Public engagement, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

The precarious situation of migrant workers engaged in building the football stadiums in Qatar has been well documented. It was brought to the fore during the FIFA Men’s Football World Cup. Their working conditions as well as their living conditions are often very poor. During the games the Qatar World Cup’s chief executive, Nasser al-Khater reportedly made the rather flippant comment: “Death is a natural part of life, whether it’s at work, whether it’s in your sleep.” Begum and Worden see this as part of Qatar’s shameful government attitude towards the often preventable deaths of migrant workers, which in their view is reflected in the authorities’ failure to investigate the thousands of migrant worker deaths since 2010. [1]

Today Dr. Pramod Regmi, Dr. Nirmal Aryal, Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen, and BU Visiting Professor Padam Simkhada published ‘Excessive Mortalities among Migrant Workers: the Case of the 2022 FIFA World Cup’ appeared in print [12]. At the time of submission to the Europasian Journal of Medical Science we wrote “The men’s FIFA Football World Cup 2022 is in full flow in Qatar” [2], but, of course, it has finished with a very exciting final between Argentina and France. Even with a fast review and acceptance process there was no chance that our ‘Brief Communication’ was going to be published during the World Cup. The delay, however, gives us the opportunity today to remind our readers of the need to keep the plight of migrant workers in the Middle East on the world’s agenda.

The FIFA World Cup brought these poor conditions and exploitation of foreign workers in the Middle East to the world’s attention. However, there is a great risk that the attention of the world, including that of campaigners, pressure groups, the media, politicians, and so on moves on to the next ‘hot’ topic. [3]

References:

Begum, R., Worden, M. (2022) Qatar and FIFA’s Callous Response to a Migrant Worker’s Death. Migrant Workers, Their Families Should be Compensated for Abuses, Human Rights Watch News, December 8, 2022 7:26PM EST
Regmi, P., Simkhada, P., Aryal, N., van Teijlingen, E. (2022) Excessive mortalities among migrant workers: the case of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Europasian Journal of Medical Sciences, 4:31-32. https://doi.org/10.46405/ejms.v4i0.455
Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Regmi, P.R. (2022). Migrant Workers in Qatar: Not just an important topic during the FIFA World Cup 2022. Health Prospect, 21(3):1-2. https://doi.org/10.3126/hprospect.v21i3.49835

20 December 2022

Journals, editors and censorship

BU Challenges, international, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

On the day that The Sun took down an column in which Jeremy Clarkson spat vitriol at Meghan Markle, it seems odd to question what the role is of an editor in preventing material from being published. Especially since Ipso (the independent press standards organisation) received more complaints (17,500+) about the column published on Friday 16th December than the total it received in the whole of 2021. Not publishing an article is of course censorship. Many will be calling for the column to be withdrawn and questioning why the editor accepted it in the first place. Censorship is the suppression or prohibition of any parts of a book, article, film, blog, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security.

But what if you are not a Mr. Clarkson, but you are a conscientious academic, doing proper research and drafting an evidence-based paper and the editor of an academic journal refuses to publish your article, not because of academic quality, but because the “…manuscript is likely to create disharmony in society”. With the additional detail, that according to the “National Ethical Guidelines for Health Research in Nepal, 2022, section 3, article 2.2 and section 3, article 3.1, this manuscript can’t be accepted for publication.” We (Nirmal Aryal, Pramod Regmi, Shovita Dhakal Adhikari, Shreeman Sharma & Edwin van Teijlingen) had submitted a paper with the title ‘Moral panic, fear, stigma, and discrimination against returnee migrants and Muslim populations in Nepal: analyses of COVID-19 media content’ to a health journal. We don’t think the title of the journal is relevant at this stage.

In the first round of reviewing one of the reviewers questioned our focus on the Muslim population. In our resubmission we stressed that we focused on two separate population groups because the media in Nepal did. In other words, we had noticed discriminatory media coverage towards returnee migrants (particularly those from India) and Muslim populations living in Nepal. These are key populations which experienced stigmatising and ostracising behaviour and media coverage further instigated moral panic and fear. We also conducted interviews with returnee migrants, Muslims in Nepal and key stakeholders, including agencies working with these sub-populations, and these findings have already been published. [1] Image how we felt being censored or in other words ‘cancelled’.

Our paper addressed issues, explanations and allegations related to COVID-19 as portrayed in the media in Nepal, indeed some discriminatory and many very unfair. However, as researchers we were merely the ‘messenger of bad news’. If Mr. Clarkson had not been headline news we would probably have called this blog ‘Don’t shoot the messenger!”.

References:

Regmi, P.R., Dhakal Adhikari, S., Aryal, N., Wasti, S.P. and van Teijlingen, E., 2022. Fear, Stigma and Othering: The Impact of COVID-19 Rumours on Returnee Migrants and Muslim Populations of Nepal. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19 (15). Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9331294/

16 December 2022

Fifty citations announced: Great timing

international, PG research, Publishing, writing Edwin van Teijlingen

This week the network ResearchGate alerted us that our paper ‘Identifying the gaps in Nepalese migrant workers’ health and well-being: a review of the literature’ has been quoted fifty times. An interesting achievement, but not particularly special, where it not for the FIFA men’s football World Cup. With the final weekend starting tomorrow and the winner being decided on Sunday in the match between Argentina and France, the timing of this announcement is impeccable. Since the health and well-being of many Nepalese migrant workers is determined by their working and living conditions in the Middle East, including Qatar.

All four authors of this review published five years ago are associated with BU, Dr. Pramod Regmi is Senior Lecturer in International Health, Dr. Nirmal Aryal recently returned to BU as researcher on a study into kidney disease among Nepalese migrant workers (funded by the Colt Foundation), and Prof. Padam Simkhada from the University of Huddersfield, who is also Visiting Professor in BU’s Faculty of Health & Social Sciences (FHSS). In addition, further research on Nepalese migrant workers is conducted in FHSS by BU PhD student Yagya Adhikari, whose thesis addresses the question of the forgotten health and social care needs of left-behind families of Nepalese migrant workers.

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

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