Key engagement

Through NPIF-ABC funded Social Science Enterprise Scheme (SSES), three innovative projects were funded.

• Supermarket Corporate Social Responsibility Schemes: Working Towards Ethical Schemes Promoting Food Security (Kelli Kennedy, Social Policy and Social Work)

This project worked directly with the Coop and other partners in the food sector on how to best formulate their corporate social responsibility (CSR) schemes which target those who cannot access or afford sufficient food. The partnership encouraged knowledge exchange to enhance their CSR scheme(s) in order to help facilitate food security.

The project created an evaluation report for the partner, synthesising relevant academic literature, providing an evaluation of their scheme(s), alongside policy recommendations. The project included a knowledge exchange workshop with third sector practitioners, a webinar, academic paper and an infographic to convey how supermarkets can work with food charities in an ethical and sustainable way.

• Diversity and Inclusion in Informal Learning Spaces in the Videogame Industry (Dr Anna Ozimek, Theatre, Film, Television and Interactive Media)

In the videogame industry, informal learning spaces (e.g. conferences, meet-ups and game jams) provide opportunities to develop new business connections, access training opportunities and exchange knowledge about game production, but the organisation and cultures of these spaces raise concerns about their inclusivity and accessibility to people of diverse backgrounds.

In collaboration with videogame industry representatives (Ukie, Game Republic, Women in Games), this project developed knowledge about - and guidance on - organising inclusive informal learning spaces. The project has helped to promote diversity and inclusivity in the videogame industry and develop stronger relationships with the videogame sector.

• OpHouse – An Exploration into a Tiny House Community in York (Alice Wilson, Sociology)

OpHouse is a clean growth accelerator for community-led self-build housing projects. The affordable housing crisis will become increasingly acute under the economic downturn following COVID19. This 'tiny house' development offers a radically affordable alternative to business-as-usual by foregrounding the needs of the local community and empowering resilient neighbourhoods through collaboration. A proportion of the tiny houses will be allocated to a local social housing authority, providing homes for some of the most vulnerable in our communities, whilst encouraging the sustainable growth of diverse and equitable urban neighbourhoods.

A Housing Insecurity mini documentary has been filmed, which will enable the team to communicate the importance of the project more effectively. More detailed data has been gathered on who the prospective clients are and what specifically they are looking for to help continue the development and address the societal needs.

Throughout the funding period the Faculty supported these researchers on their engagement activities, as well as exploring how we could deliver greater support to our social science researchers to engage with business in the future.

You can access related resources to each of these projects via our Resources page.

The Universities of York, Sheffield and Leeds delivered a Careers Week for Social Science PhD and Early Career Researchers. A series of professional training, workshops and inspirational talks were held to help participants navigate their career post PhD. With only around 30% of Postdocs remaining in academia and roles increasingly harder to secure, our aim was to support and showcase alternative career opportunities that align with social scientists research values and enhance existing skills.

A host of career development training workshops to help participants prepare for a possible shift into a career outside academia were delivered by an external trainer and covered topics on Imposter Syndrome, Career Resilience, Values and Identifying opportunities. These were delivered in collaboration with Chartered Psychologist Hannah Courtney Bennett.

A series of alumni talks were delivered throughout the week, discussing professional journies outside of academia. Attendees heard about what motivated the speakers to pursue a career beyond academia, how their research skills have transferred across to their new roles, and what career opportunities having a PhD has brought them. We were joined by:

• Dr Rosie Webster, Lead User Experience Research specialising in health and behaviour change at Babylon Health;
• Callum Patterson, Principle at FMA Partners;
• Laura Evans, Founder and Director of Nifty Fox Creative;
• Ella Moonan-Howard, currently studying for PhD in Gerontology and establishing her own social enterprise supporting adults in later life through the support of Zinc;
• and Dr Anna Hushlak, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Ferly.

The Careers Service at the Universities of York and Leeds delivered workshops on key professional skills, such as developing a CV and Cover letter, in addition to identifying where to look for employment opportunities outside of academia. A policy workshop was delivered by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to discuss further alternative career pathways into the civil service where academic skills are transferable.

The Careers Week was a huge success with over 650 attendees in total. The funding allowed for us to re-run some of these sessions which attracted a further 160 attendees and we were able to offer some 1:1 sessions with Hannah Courtney Bennett for a more tailored approach to identifying opportunities and developing skill sets.

‘Routes’, The White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership’s Social Science Enterprise Programme, ran across four weeks exploring all elements of creating a business model and enterprise.

Throughout the programme, the participants were offered an introduction to enterprise, guidance on intellectual property, first-hand access to speakers from industry, academia and business development, insights into networking and communication to non-academic audiences and the opportunity to pitch their idea during the final session in front of an experienced panel.

There were three winners overall, following a pitch to an experienced judging panel. The winners received a £2k prize to work with Alex Szabo-Haslam, a brand and printmaking agency, to build and develop their brand. The aim being to help these entrepreneurs establish themselves as key players in their field for the outside world.

The winning projects were:

Bethany Suggett, University of York, Centre for Women’s Studies with her ‘Of Menses and Men’ pitch, advocating for a change in men and boys involvement in the menstruation conversation and education. Her mission is to provide the learning and materials for men to fully understand the menstrual cycle, challenge the taboo of discussion and create a society where menstruation is spoken about openly and comfortably.

Geneffa Ahmed Virjee, University of York, Department of Education with ‘Ziksanam Ista - Learning Loved’, a story-telling approach to support and educate refugees who want to learn English as a foreign language. Geneffa has devised a way of teaching English as a second language that is engaging and effective to help provide better futures for underprivileged groups.

Eleanor Craig, University of Leeds, School of Sociology and Policy with ‘The Violet Project’ pitch, addressing the lack of understanding among medical practitioners as to the impact of sexual abuse or assault on people’s experience of undergoing examinations by medical staff. The Violet Project aims to provide training to healthcare and medical professionals to better understand the complexity of trauma to the victims.

Other finalists who pitched from the University of York included Masuma Mishu from the Department of Health Sciences and Rebecca Tickell from the Department of Education.

The Connecting with Industry Multi-Mind Challenge was a six week skills development programme to support PhD students and Early Career Researchers enhance their skills and confidence to work more effectively in and with industry. The programme combined self-study elements, interactive workshops, ‘conversations with industry’, application activities and Multi-Mind Industry Challenges provided by external companies.

The challenge included four participating companies who were keen to get fresh perspectives on challenges that would be integral to the growth of their business. The companies involved included:

• National Non-Food Crops Centre, The Bioeconomy Consultants - a strategic consultancy with in-depth knowledge of the bioeconomy.
• Groundswell Innovation - supporting clients to commercialise new ideas.
• Penrose Care - a pioneer of ethical homecare
• East Midlands Railway - British train operating company.

Their challenges included questions that explored different consumer perceptions of what plastic free would look like, attracting and retaining staff in the care sector when money is not the key barrier and increasing rail travel post pandemic.

The participants worked with the companies over the six week period, applying a range of innovative and problem solving tools to address these challenges. Participants noted following the exercises that the challenge had improved their confidence in understanding a business/industry challenge, highlighting the importance of real-life engagement and experience working directly with external stakeholders.

The training was delivered by certified company, Skillfluence, who are an experienced, dynamic training company that provides transferable skills training to researchers and academics, to complement institutional provision.

Aspect is a Social Sciences platform for Entrepreneurship, Commercialisation and Transformation. It is a network for organisations looking to make the most of commercial and business opportunities from social sciences research. The University of York is a partner on the Aspect programme and has engaged in a variety of activities to support the work, including a Creative Industries Deep Dive, a Health Tech Deep Dive and the development and roll-out of the Ideas Box to identify gaps in business engagement across academic institutions.

Visit the Aspect website.

The White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership (WRDTP), brings together the Universities of Bradford, Hull, Leeds, Manchester Metropolitan, Sheffield Hallam, Sheffield and York to deliver cutting edge social science training to post-graduate researchers. Through the NPIF ABC fund, we worked collaboratively to deliver a number of activities to engage PhD students and Early Career Researchers with business engagement opportunities and development.

Visit the White Rose Social Sciences Doctoral Training Partnership website.

ROUTES - an exciting enterprise support programme that has been devised and delivered by the Universities of Leeds, York and Sheffield on behalf of the White Rose Doctoral Partnership.

It is the first programme of its kind to be offered across the White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership, providing social science PGRs and ECRs the unique opportunity to think about alternative routes for their research.

Learn more about the Routes programme here.