PhD studentship: Widening participation as a trigger for transformative education: Exploring development and change within a medical education context. (1029918RA)

Main Supervisor: Dr Sally Curtis

Other members of the supervisory team: Prof Jennifer Cleland, Dr Kathryn Woods-Townsend,
                                                                    Prof Marcus Grace

Duration of the award: 3 years, full time

Project description: 

The importance of widening access to Higher Education (HE) for underrepresented groups is high on the national agenda as highlighted in the recent white paper ‘Higher education: success as a knowledge economy’. Within this broad agenda, that of widening access to the professions, including medicine, is of considerable specific interest, particularly since the publication of the State of the Nation reports in 2015 and 20161&2.

Since the 1970s, the UK medical student body has become increasingly diverse in terms of gender, ethnicity and age.  That progress, however, has not yet been mirrored by a similar change in the socio-economic background of medical students across the UK.  Yet some institutions have been more successful than others in attracting “non-traditional” applicants and achieving change. This variance may be linked to large differences in how individual medical schools interpret and put into practice widening participation (WP) policy.  However, attempts to theorise what happens when policy enters practice are neglected in medical education.  To the best of our knowledge, there have been no explorations of the broader impact an increase in students from underrepresented groups may have on the undergraduate educational experience itself. Put simply, does widening participation in medicine change the experience of medical education for students and teachers and more widely the profession?

This proposal is situated within the theoretical framework of transformative education3. Thus, we envisage the student to undertake a qualitative programme of work, using a case study approach to explore and compare the impact of widening participation in medicine across two institutions: Southampton and Aberdeen.  The University of Southampton’s Medical School has delivered one of the UK’s longest standing and most reputable WA to medicine programmes. The programme has gone from strength to strength since it began in 2002 and has received national recognition as an excellent example of an innovative widening access programme45&6 The second institution will be the University of Aberdeen, which again has a long-standing commitment to widening participation to medicine and has recently introduced a new 6 year programme. The university of Aberdeen is situated within a very different geographical and social arena to that of Southampton. As is typical for case study research, multiple data collection methods will be used, including interviews (to explore the perspectives of students, academics and clinicians on the impact a diverse student body has on the educational experience).

It is intended that the outcomes of this project will help move the national WA agenda forward by providing a greater understanding of the impact of widening access on higher education and the student experience. This will enable institutions to optimise and harness the potential of widening participation through transformative education thereby facilitating social mobility and diversifying the medical profession. 

The cross-faculty, cross-institutional supervisory team bring a wealth of knowledge and experience in Education, Medical Education and in WA, providing a unique and exciting opportunity for postgraduate research.

1.Milburn A, Shephard G, Attwood T, Carrie AM, Cleal P, Gregg P, Johnston D, Guy C, Hamilton D, Williams C. State of the Nation 2015: Social mobility and child poverty in Great Britain. Social Mobility & Child Poverty (SMCP) Commission; 2015.

2.Milburn A, Shephard G. State of the Nation 2016: Social Mobility in Great Britain. Social Mobility & Child Poverty (SMCP) Commission; 2016.

3.Mezirow, J. Contemporary Paradigms of Learning. Adult Education Quarterly, 1996,

46, 158–172

4.Embedding Widening Participation in Higher Education Universities UK report 2005,  

5. Medical Schools; delivering the doctors of the future: Department of Health. London. 2004

6. Opening doors: Understanding and overcoming the barriers to university access. Russell

         Group. 2015.

Please contact:  Sally Curtis s.a.curtis@soton.ac.uk

Person Specification: See below

The successful candidate is likely to have the following qualifications:

Funding information:
This full studentship is funded by the Leonard Thomas Fund, The University of Southampton and Health Education England. This studentship includesUK/EU tuition fees, student stipend, plus additional financial support for student professional development and training. The Leonard Thomas Fund supports a variety of activities which positively support undergraduate students studying medicine through a variety of activities including postgraduate research.  

Administrative contact and how to apply:

Please complete the University's online application form, which you can find at 

https://studentrecords.soton.ac.uk/BNNRPROD/bzsksrch.P_Login?pos=7197&majr=7197&term=201819

You should enter Sally Curtis as your proposed supervisor. To support your application provide an academic CV (including contact details of two referees), official academic transcripts and a personal statement (outlining your suitability for the studentship, what you hope to achieve from the PhD and your research experience to date).

Informal enquiries relating to the project or candidate suitability should be directed to Sally Curtis S.A.Curtis@soton.ac.uk

Closing date: 31st July 2018.

Closing Date: 31 Jul 2018
Post Type: PhD Studentship (Funded)