Category / Women’s Academic Network

BU PhD student receives OpenBright grant

Women's Academic Network

I am thrilled to announce that I have been awarded a grant from OpenBright to take part in a short summer course on “Data Science: Network Science” at Utrecht University, located in the Netherlands. OpenBright award grants to support women in computing to develop their research projects.
As a PhD student, I am currently working on a research project titled “Smart Transportation Networks for Smart Cities,” under the supervision of Dr. Wei Koong Chai. The research is match-funded by Bournemouth Christchurch Poole (BCP) Council.   Through the course, I am excited to further enhance my knowledge and skills in network science, which is crucial to my research work.
I am thankful for the support and recognition from OpenBright, which provides me with the opportunity to learn from some of the most renowned researchers and scholars in this field. This grant not only benefits me but also fosters the advancement of women in computing, promoting gender equity and diversity in science.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank my supervisor Dr. Wei Koong Chai, for his invaluable guidance and support throughout my PhD journey.
Author: Assemgul Kozhabek, 3rd year PhD student, SciTech, Computing and Informatics department

BU PhD student publishes in The Conversation

international, Publishing, Student Engagement, Women's Academic Network, writing

Congratulations the Abier Hamidi, PhD student in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences (FHSS) whose PhD work was published in The Conversation this week (24 April) under the title Social media now trumps traditional family networks in Libya – my Facebook survey reached 446,000 women.  Her piece in The Conversation on the recruitment of female participants for a PhD study in a rather patriarchal society brings together issues of anonymity, gender, and wider social culture.

This is Abier’s PhD research is supervised by Dr. Pramod Regmi, Senior Lecturer in International Health and the Global Engagement Lead in the Department of Nursing Sciences, and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH).

Congratulations!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

 

Post-Doctoral Researchers, Research Assistants, ECR’s, Research Fellows

BU Challenges, Fusion, Knowledge Exchange, Research Ethics, Research Integritiy, Women's Academic Network

Post-Doctoral Researchers, Research Assistants, ECR’s, Research Fellows. It’s the final day of the CEDARS survey and not many of you have completed the survey. We would particularly love to hear your thoughts/feedback.

Don’t miss the chance to influence policies and initiatives relating to research at BU. Please complete the BU Vitae CEDARS survey 2023 (Culture, Employment and Development in Academic Research survey)* today. The survey closes today Friday 21st April.

This is an important survey as it benchmarks BU against the rest of the sector. It will, therefore, help us to identify where we are excelling and where there is room for improvement.

Participating in this study will also influence policy. Your input will help us to understand where to focus our efforts and resources – it will give us the data to make the argument for you. (The results of the previous PIRLS and CROS surveys that CEDARS has replaced were used to develop new policies and initiatives, as well as training and development opportunities).

The CEDARS survey is for everyone who is research-active (whether on a full-time, part-time or part-time hourly paid contract). This includes researchers at all stages in your career, those who manage researchers, or are Principal Investigators, or contribute to research by providing professional services for researchers, (i.e. researcher developers, research officers or technical staff).

Your responses will be anonymous; you will not be identified or identifiable in any published results. It will take approximately 20 minutes to complete the survey. BU Vitae CEDARS survey 2023

If you have any questions regarding the survey, please email Rachel Arnold: rarnold@bournemouth.ac.uk

 

Thank you, the Research Development and Support Team

*CEDARS is a national survey that explores the views and experiences of researchers and those supporting researchers across the UK. It is based on the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, which aims to create the best culture for researchers to thrive. This survey replaces the previous CROS and PIRLS surveys.

Please find more information here on the ‘Concordat to Support the Careers of Researchers’ and what BU is doing to support researchers.

New sociology paper led by Dr. Orlanda Harvey

PG research, Publishing, student research, Women's Academic Network, writing

Congratulations to Dr. Orlanda Harvey and Dr. Margarete Parrish in the Department of Social Sciences & Social Work on the publication of our article “Using a Range of Communication Tools to Interview a Hard-to-Reach Population” in Sociological Research Online [1].  The paper highlights that online communication tools are increasingly being used by researchers; hence it is timely to reflect on the differences when using a broad range of data collection methods. Using a case study with a potentially hard-to-reach substance-using population who are often distrustful of researchers, this article explores the use of a variety of different platforms for interviews. It highlights both the advantages and disadvantages of each method. Face-to-face interviews and online videos offer more opportunity to build rapport, but lack anonymity. Live Webchat and audio-only interviews offer a high level of anonymity, but both may incur a loss of non-verbal communication, and in the Webchat a potential loss of personal narrative. This article is intended for sociologists who wish to broaden their methods for conducting research interviews.

This methods article was developed based on the recruitment issues faced during Orlanda’s PhD research from which she has published several previous papers [2-6].

 

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

CMMPH

 

References:

  1. Harvey, O., van Teijlingen, E., Parrish, M. (2023)  Using a Range of Communication Tools to Interview a Hard-to-Reach Population. Sociological Research Online [online first]
  2. Harvey, O., Keen, S., Parrish, M., van Teijlingen, E. (2019) Support for people who use Anabolic Androgenic Steroids: A Systematic Literature Review into what they want and what they access. BMC Public Health 19: 1024
  3. Harvey, O., Parrish, M., van Teijlingen, E., Trenoweth, S. (2020) Support for non-prescribed Anabolic Androgenic Steroids users: A qualitative exploration of their needs Drugs: Education, Prevention & Policy 27:5, 377-386. doi 10.1080/09687637.2019.1705763
  4.  Harvey, O., Parrish, M., van Teijlingen, E, Trenoweth, S. (2022) Libido as a reason to use non-prescribed Anabolic Androgenic Steroids, Drugs: Education, Prevention & Policy 29(3):276-288.
  5. Harvey, O., van Teijlingen, E., Parrish, M. (2022) Mixed-methods research on androgen abuse – a review, Current Opinion in Endocrinology & Diabetes 29(6):586-593.
  6. Harvey, O., van Teijlingen, E. (2022) The case for ‘anabolics’ coaches: selflessness versus self-interest? Performance Enhancement & Health 10(3) August, 100230

The PhD viva and then….

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

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:

  1. 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
  2. Regmi, P., Poobalan, A., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E. (2021). PhD supervision in public health. Health Prospect, 20(1), 1-4.

It is all about experience

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

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:

  1. 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

Agile Learning Environments amid Disruption

Publishing, Women's Academic Network, writing

Congratulations to Dawn Morley and Debbie Holley

Dr. Dawn Morley and Prof. Debbie Holley, both in the Department of Nursing Sciences, published a chapter in the book: Evaluating Academic Innovations in Higher Education during COVID-19.  Their chapter Agile Learning Environments amid Disruption (pp 19–34) appeared just before Christmas in this edited collection.

The book addresses the need of evaluating innovative or non-traditional academic schemes for understanding their feasibility in extraordinary educational environments. The individual chapters are enriched with robust appraisals of policies and practices linked to academic innovations in higher education during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. The case studies report wide-ranging teaching, learning and academic support practices within online, open, blended and distance learning models. The findings supply two domains of scholarship: evidence-based scenarios through real-world case studies, and a critical evaluation of educational quality through research-informed argument. The evidence gathered from countries, such as Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, India, Malaysia, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and the UK show empowering and deterring elements of academic innovation amid disruptions. Although this book highlights academic innovations in disruptive situations, they emerge as powerful tools and approaches to be considered in traditional face to face learning.

 ‘Agile Learning Environments amid Disruption: Evaluating Academic Innovations in Higher Education during COVID-19’ is now available online!! Please check the publisher’s website access is free:  https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-92979-4

Congratulations!

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

New paper FHSS Visiting Faculty

NHS, Publishing, Women's Academic Network, writing

The latest issue of the journal Performing Ethos: An International Journal of Ethics in Theatre & Performance includes the paper ‘The birth of a lullaby and these COVID years’ by Jillian Ireland, who is BU Visiting Faculty.  Jillian is Visiting Faculty in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal & Perinatal Health (CMMPH) and Professional Midwifery Advocate in Poole Maternity Hospital, University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust (UHD). 

Her new paper describes the birth (an appropriate verb to be used by a midwife) of a lullaby. This particular lullaby grew from a community-based maternity care intervention.  This project was funded by the Burdett Fund for Nurses, supported by the Foundation of Nursing Studies, and co-created by local women and staff  from maternity, health visiting and the Children’s Centre in the community.  The beautiful illustrations in this paper are by two local artists: Alan Mercel-Sanca and Allison Churchill.

Reference:

Ireland, J. (2022) The birth of a lullaby and these COVID years, Performing Ethos: An International Journal of Ethics in Theatre & Performance, 12: 39–52,  https://doi.org/10.1386/peet_00045_1

Congratulations to Dr. Orlanda Harvey on her new publication

international, PG research, Publishing, Women's Academic Network, writing

This morning the editor of the international journal Sociological Research Online email to inform us that the paper “Using a range of communication tools to interview a hard-to-reach population” has been accepted for publication [1].  This methods paper, on the topic of conducting in-depth interviews, grew out of Orlanda’s postdoctoral research into support for people who are recreational (non-medical) users of Anabolic Androgenic Steroids (AAS).  This is the seventh paper from her PhD research [2-7].

Well done,

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Centre for Midwifery & Perinatal Health (CMMPH)

 

References:

  1. Harvey, O., van Teijlingen, E., Parrish, M. Using a range of communication tools to interview a hard-to-reach population, Sociological Research Online (accepted).
  2. Harvey, O., van Teijlingen, E. (2022) The case for ‘anabolics’ coaches: selflessness versus self-interest? Performance Enhancement & Health, 10(3) August, 100230
  3. Harvey, O., van Teijlingen, E., Parrish, M. (2022) Mixed-methods research on androgen abuse – a review, Current Opinion in Endocrinology & Diabetes 29(6):586-593.
  4. Harvey, O., Parrish, M., van Teijlingen, E, Trenoweth, S. (2021) Libido as a reason to use non-prescribed Anabolic Androgenic Steroids, Drugs: Education, Prevention & Policy 29(3):276-288,DOI: 10.1080/09687637.2021.1882940
  5. Harvey, O., Parrish, M., van Teijlingen, E., Trenoweth, S. (2020) Support for non-prescribed Anabolic Androgenic Steroids users: A qualitative exploration of their needs Drugs: Education, Prevention & Policy 27(5): 377-386. DOI 10.1080/09687637.2019.1705763
  6. Harvey, O., Keen, S., Parrish, M., van Teijlingen, E. (2019) Support for people who use Anabolic Androgenic Steroids: A Systematic Literature Review into what they want and what they access. BMC Public Health 19: 1024 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7288-x https://rdcu.be/bMFon
  7. Harvey, O., (2019) ECR Spotlight: From Social Work to Studying Steroids, HED Matters 2(2):16-19.

New BU midwifery paper published this week

NHS, Publishing, Women's Academic Network, writing

Congratulations to Prof. Vanora Hundley in the Centre for Midwifery, Maternal &Perinatal Health (CMMPH) who published the paper ‘Effective communication: core to promoting respectful maternity care for disabled women’ in the international journal Midwifery. This paper is co-authored with BU Visiting Faculty Jillian Ireland who is Professional Midwifery Advocate at Poole Maternity Hospital, University Hospital Dorset (UHD), and two former BU staff members: Dr. Bethan Collins & Dr. Jenny Hall.

Congratulations,

Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Reference: 

Collins, C., Hall, J., Hundley, V., Ireland, J. (2022) Effective communication: core to promoting respectful maternity care for disabled women’, Midwifery. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2022.103525

 

 

Raising Awareness: Menopause & the Workplace Research Findings

Women's Academic Network

As the current UCU Equality Officer, I’d like to share some recent research (2022) on menopause and the workplace, which is presented by the Fawcett Society*. The research (see: https://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=9672cf45-5f13-4b69-8882-1e5e643ac8a6) follows on from the C4 documentary ‘Davina McCall: Sex, Mind and the Menopause’ commissioned by Finestripe Productions.

This televised popular cultural representation raised awareness of the menopause. Additionally, Finestripe commissioned Savanta ComRes to conduct a  survey of 4,014 UK women aged 45-55 who are currently or have previously experienced the perimenopause or the menopause. The Fawcett Society, who were involved in the research design, acknowledge their gratitude “to Channel 4 and to Finestripe for enabling us to use that data in this report. We are also grateful to The Wates Group (a construction company), without whose sponsorship this report could not have been produced.”

Key findings from the research are as follows:

  • 77% of women experience one or more symptoms they describe as ‘very difficult’. 69% say they experience difficulties with anxiety or depression due to menopause, 84% experience trouble sleeping and 73% experience brain fog.
  • More women described difficulty sleeping and brain fog as being ‘difficult’ or ‘very difficult’ than hot flushes or night sweats (70%).
  • 44% of women said their ability to work had been affected, comprising 18% of women who said that their symptoms currently affected their ability to do their jobs, and 26% in the past. 61% said that they had lost motivation at work due to their symptoms, and 52% said they had lost confidence.
  • One in ten women who have been employed during the menopause have left work due to menopause symptoms. Mapped on to the UK population that would represent an estimated 333,000 women leaving their jobs due to the menopause. 14% of women had reduced their hours at work, 14% had gone part-time, and 8% had not applied for promotion.
  • Disabled women are affected more by menopause symptoms. 22% said they had left a job due to menopause symptoms, compared to 9% of non-disabled women.
  • Severe symptoms are worse for working class women. 44% of women described three or more symptoms as ‘very difficult’, and women in a household where the main earner works in semi-skilled or unskilled manual work were more likely than those where they work in managerial roles to have difficulty with physical and psychological symptoms.
  • The taboo around menopause extends to sick notes. 26% of women who have been employed during the menopause had taken time off work due to their symptoms, but just 30% of them gave menopause as the main reason on their sick note. Working class women were even less likely to cite the real reason.
  • Employers are not taking action to support most menopausal women. There is consistent evidence that a mix of appropriate interventions by employers can support women: culture change, training, advice on menopause, adapting absence policies, flexible work, and environmental changes.But for each of these, eight out of ten women in our survey said their employer had not put them in place. When they do, women say that they are helpful.
  • Women are not approaching their GP surgery about the menopause. Just 55% of women said they had talked to someone at their practice, while 45% said they had not. Even among women with five or more severe symptoms, 29% had not spoken to anyone at their GP practice about menopause.
  • Women overall said their GPs appeared knowledgeable about menopause. 67% of menopausal women who did speak to their GP agreed that their healthcare professionals seemed well informed about the menopause.

At the end of October 2021, the UK Government issued a Press Release (see: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/more-support-for-women-experiencing-the-menopause) outlining action for a Menopause Taskforce to better support women experiencing the menopause. The Task force will be co-chaired by the Minister for Women’s Health and Carolyn Harris MP and aims to address the role of education, training and workplace policies. The Civil Service will be involved in developing workplace menopause policy to ensure women can continue to work to their full potential.

At BU, we have Menopause Guidelines (see: https://staffintranet.bournemouth.ac.uk/workingatbu/healthsafetywellbeing/hsfire/menopause/) for members of staff and managers, which states that: “Research shows that the majority of women are unwilling to discuss menopause-related health problems with their line manager, nor ask for the support or adjustments that they may need”

One of the aims of the BU guidelines is to: “Foster an environment in which colleagues can openly and comfortably instigate conversations, or engage in discussions about menopause“.

Hopefully, existing menopause and workplace research findings, accompanied by policy reform, will impact change in the workplace and make menopause easier to talk about and support.

The TUC also have an informative and useful menopause toolkit: https://www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/Menopause%20toolkit%20Eng%20FINAL.pdf

*The Fawcett Society is a UK charity, established in 1866; campaigns for women’s rights