Research Associate - Safer Schools Teachers and Parents

Department of Education

The Department of Education at the University of York is an open and friendly department, committed to excellence in research and teaching. Our research groups have a national and international reputation for the quality of their work, ranked 5th in the UK for research in the THE (2021) ranking of Research Excellence Framework results. Alongside sociologists, linguists and colleagues with strong backgrounds in educational practice, the academic community includes psychologists who research and teach educationally relevant psychology. The Department is committed to social justice in education and strives to uphold values of fairness, respect, inclusion and compassion.

Main purpose of role

The postholder will play a vital role in an innovative, government-supported project tackling gender-based violence via primary school intervention. Working within five York school communities, the Associate will facilitate project delivery by nurturing school partnerships and leading data collection with teachers and parents. They will contribute to an evidence-led outcomes framework and assist in crafting and sharing expert VAWG intervention guidelines with diverse local, regional, and national stakeholders.

Key responsibilities

The postholder will develop close relationships with partner schools and lead fieldwork with teachers and parents, including developing research materials, consent forms, safety plans for individual interviews and focus groups. They will work with local government, academic and practitioner experts to contribute to expert guidelines through a Delphi study, drawing on evidence from pupils, parents and teachers.

Working alongside an experienced research team and GBV/VAWG experts, they will coordinate with the other Research Associate across all work packages. The role offers professional development through stakeholder engagement, academic publications and impact activity with schools, local government and policy makers. It requires specialist GBV/VAWG knowledge, strong quantitative and qualitative research skills, familiarity with survey design, excellent communication and interpersonal skills, and ability to work effectively in a dynamic research environment.

Skills, Experience & Qualification needed

• Must have specialist knowledge of GBV/VAWG, preferably as it relates to children and young people in educational settings.
• Must have strong quantitative and qualitative research skills and be able to safely store, manage and analyse large volumes of survey, interview and focus group data. They will have experience of working with survey building tools, such as Qualtrix and with data visualisation. They will also have familiarity with conducting systematic literature reviews.
• Must have demonstrable knowledge of the ethical considerations and complexities that are relevant to researching a sensitive topic with marginalised and hard-to-engage groups.
• Must hold a PhD (or equivalent experience) in a relevant field i.e. Women's or Gender Studies, Sociology, Social Policy, Education, Psychology.

Interview date: To be confirmed

For informal enquiries: please contact Prof Vanita Sundaram on