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Gendered Journeys: The Trajectories of STEM Students and Graduates Through Higher Education and Into Employment, In Multiple Global South Contexts, 2020-2024
No full textWomen continue to be under-represented globally in Sciences Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) disciplines, including all levels of adult education (approximately 35% at undergraduate study, UNESCO, 2017), and through persistent inequalities in STEM research and employment (UNESCO Fact Sheet 60, 2020; Huang et al, 2019). This pattern persists in the UK despite financial and political investment, with the gap even widening in many ‘hard science’ disciplines, widening as one moves up the educational or employment ladder (Jadidi et al, 2019). This pattern is even more disparate in countries with economic instability, and those in the global south (WEF, 2018). Therefore, our international, interdisciplinary team explored this gender gap in Higher Education study and into skilled employment holistically and through the Gendered Journeys (Global Challenge Research Fund ES/T005068/1) project.
This mixed-methods project conducted a large-scale quantitative survey of STEM undergraduates from India (n = 251), Rwanda (n = 196) & UK (n = 218), yielding interesting findings on the gendered experience of Imposter Phenomenon in relation to achievement and attrition intentions, as well as both gender and national differences in stereotypes, physical comfort (habitus fit), confidence, self-efficacy and well-being. Women, regardless of nationality, in the sample reported feeling warmer on average towards women scientists & engineers, but reported higher imposter phenomenon levels, and felt less comfortable in HEI-related spaces than their male counterparts (all pGendered Journeys: the trajectories of STEM students and graduates through higher education and into employment, in multiple global south contexts
Abstract:
Women continue to be under-represented globally in Sciences Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) disciplines, including all levels of adult education (approximately 35% at undergraduate study, UNESCO, 2017), and through persistent inequalities in STEM research and employment (UNESCO Fact Sheet 60, 2020; Huang et al, 2019). This pattern persists in the UK despite financial and political investment, with the gap even widening in many ‘hard science’ disciplines, widening as one moves up the educational or employment ladder (Jadidi et al, 2019). This pattern is even more disparate in countries with economic instability, and those in the global south (WEF, 2018). Therefore, our international, interdisciplinary team explored this gender gap in Higher Education study and into skilled employment holistically and through the Gendered Journeys (Global Challenge Research Fund ES/T005068/1) project.
This mixed-methods project conducted a large-scale quantitative survey of STEM undergraduates from India (n = 251), Rwanda (n = 196) & UK (n = 218), yielding interesting findings on the gendered experience of Imposter Phenomenon in relation to achievement and attrition intentions, as well as both gender and national differences in stereotypes, physical comfort (habitus fit), confidence, self-efficacy and well-being. Women, regardless of nationality, in the sample reported feeling warmer on average towards women scientists & engineers, but reported higher imposter phenomenon levels, and felt less comfortable in HEI-related spaces than their male counterparts (all p<.05). National differences emerged also, such that the Indian student cohort reported warmer campus/ department climates, than other cohorts, with greater feelings of safety in uni-related spaces, but had the largest gender gap in maths confidence (all p<0.05), a finding mirrored in qualitative interviews in India (but not Rwanda). Although UK women in our sample often reported the lowest scores- for instance in satisfaction and highest in attrition intentions- qualitative interview findings provided stark themes in terms of issues with comfort, belonging, and wide-spread experiences of sexual harassment and gender-based violence (GBV) at or near university spaces. This finding triangulated also with notions of ‘campus curfews’ and divergent rules for women and men. We discuss these findings in relation to cultural stereotypes- particularly around breadwinning and family duties, as well as maths ability- and in relation to cultural attitudes towards GBV. We introduce the work of our intersectionally inclusive online toolkit, as well as the successful knowledge exchange of our collaborative partnerships, in relation to ‘walking the walk’ of intersectionally inclusive STEM education. We embed these findings within the context of more equitable economic outcomes across countries, such as closing the gender pay gap and addressing UN SDGs 4, 5, and 6.</p
Language Learning Aptitude as a Predictor of Late-life L2 Learning at Beginner Level, 2024
No full textResearch on late-life second language (L2) learning has expanded in recent years, showing that it is possible to acquire a new language even in older adulthood. Yet, little is known about how different teaching conditions affect learning in this age group, and the role that cognitive and socioaffective factors play in shaping outcomes. This study set out to examine whether older adults’ success in beginning a new L2 depends on the instructional approach they experience and to what extent aptitude for explicit and implicit learning predicts achievement.
Eighty volunteers aged 60–83, all proficient in English and without prior knowledge of Croatian or other Slavic languages, took part in the research. Participants completed online language aptitude measures (the LLAMA test battery and a serial reaction time task) and then engaged in a short online course in beginner-level Croatian. The instructional materials targeted adjective-noun gender agreement and were delivered in two conditions: an explicit condition with metalinguistic explanations and an incidental condition without such explanations but with greater practice opportunities. All learners completed four 30-minute lessons (two auditory, two written), each embedded in everyday scenarios such as shopping or furnishing a house. Learning was assessed with a posttest, while demographic, self-concept, and prior language learning data were collected via a questionnaire.
The dataset includes aptitude test results, serial reaction time data, background questionnaire responses, and posttest performance. Findings showed that aptitude components significantly predicted L2 outcomes, with a stronger effect in the incidental condition, suggesting that explicit instruction may reduce cognitive demands. Nonetheless, participants achieved comparable results across conditions. Learners responded more quickly in the incidental condition and performed better on written than on auditory items overall. Occupational status (working vs. retired) and learners’ self-concepts emerged as important correlates of success, underscoring the joint influence of cognitive and socioaffective factors.
Taken together, the data provide new insights into the early stages of L2 learning in older adults. The findings suggest that input modality may be more relevant for older adults than instructional approach. Participants’ occupational status (working vs. retired) and self-concepts, including their confidence in themselves and their knowledge, emerged as important factors, highlighting the link between (meta)cognitive and socioaffective variables in late-life learners.Recent work in the field of second language (L2) learning and teaching has aimed for improved representativeness by including older adult participants. Findings to date suggest not only that it is perfectly possible to learn a new L2 late in life, but also that, compared with younger samples, third-age learners’ success may be less dependent on the nature of the instructional approach they are exposed to. Whereas the predictive power of language learning aptitude in young adults’ instructed L2 learning has been amply demonstrated, we know very little about language aptitude as a predictor of late-life learners’ L2 achievement. The present study addressed these issues by comparing the effectiveness of an explicit and an incidental instructional condition at the earliest stage of L2 learning. Volunteers (N = 80) aged 60-83 completed the LLAMA aptitude battery and a serial reaction time task and participated in a suite of online language lessons targeting adjective-noun gender agreement in beginner-level Croatian. Our results show that the LLAMA tests significantly predicted L2 attainment. Aptitude components played a greater role in the incidental than in the explicit condition, indicating that the latter was cognitively less demanding. Nevertheless, participants were equally successful in the two conditions. The incidental group responded faster to post-test items throughout, and participants performed better on written than auditory items regardless of instructional condition. Taken together, these findings suggest that input modality may be more relevant for older adults than instructional approach. Participants’ occupational status (working vs. retired) and self-concepts including their confidence in themselves and their knowledge emerged as important factors, highlighting the link between (meta-)cognitive and socio-affective variables in late-life learners.</p
Farmer, Farm Advisor and Consumer Understandings and Responses to Endemic Livestock Disease in the UK, 2019-2022
No full textFarm-level interdisciplinary approaches to endemic livestock disease or FIELD (https://field-wt.co.uk/) was a five-year interdisciplinary project funded by the Wellcome Trust (2018-2023).
The data archived here includes the social science strand of the research. Specifically, qualitative and quantitative research with farmers, their advisors and consumers conducted between 2018-2022. The aims of this research were:
- to investigate how farmers and their advisors understand and respond to endemic livestock disease, their current lameness and BVD management practices and the barriers and enablers of recommended practice through a Farmer survey, farmer focus groups and farmer and advisor interviews:
- to gain a better understanding of the variation in public attitudes towards farm animal welfare and health, and in particular, endemic livestock disease through a consumer survey and consumer focus groups.Farm-level interdisciplinary approaches to endemic livestock disease or FIELD (https://field-wt.co.uk/) was a five-year interdisciplinary project funded by the Wellcome Trust (2018-2023). It brought together a team of social scientists, historians, economists and epidemiologists to research how livestock disease is influenced by nature and culture, science and society, and the actions of humans and livestock.
FIELD specifically examined endemic diseases, defined as those which are continually present in particular regions or populations. We focused on two common examples in Britain: Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) in cows, and lameness in sheep and cattle. These conditions cannot be caught by humans, but they do have an impact on animal health, welfare and production. FIELD considered their past, present and likely future impacts, asking if they could be managed better, and if so, how?</p
Life after Migration: Opportunities and Challenges for Young Europeans in Brexit Britain: Longitudinal Survey and Qualitative Interview, 2022-2024
No full textThe MigYouth project investigated the post-migration transitions and pathways to citizenship for young Europeans (aged 16-26) in Britain in the aftermath of the UK withdrawal from the European Union. The project aimed to to understand how young Europeans navigate life after migration and plan for the future in the context of post-Brexit visa systems, the covid-19 pandemic recovery and the rising cost of living. These young people have spent their formative years experiencing multiple transitions and border-crossings related to moving home, learning English, changing education systems, finding work in a precarious and austere economic climate and forming key relationships in the context of divisive political rhetoric surrounding immigration.
The study engaged with over 1500 young Europeans across the UK to build an understanding of youth transitions in education and employment, and how these shape prospects for citizenship and settlement in the UK.
This collection consists of three datasets:
1) a longitudinal survey documenting the experiences of European migrant youth at key transitions between education and work. Survey wave 1 was released in Spring 2023 and includes demographic data, rates of satisfaction with education, work, housing and health, perspectives on UK immigration process and systems, including EUSS, expereinces of discrimination and racism and impacts of Brexit and covid-19 pandemic. Survey wave 2 was released in Spring 2024 and includes repeat questions to track change over time, as well as new sections on political participation and mental health.
There are two versions of the survey data, the one containing partial postcodes is only available with the depositor permission.
2) Qualitative interviews and focus groups with 42 young Europeans to gather perspectives on education, work and lifecourse transitions in the context of migration to the UK. Interviews were carried out, but not limited to, four case study locations across the UK: Wolverhampton and the West Midlands; Glasgow and Central Scotland; Swansea and Carmarthenshire; Belfast and Northern Ireland border counties.
3) a co-produced podcast series entitled 'Im Migrant', recorded by young Europeans in Glasgow in Summer 2024 and launched in December 2024.This study is the first UK-wide study of young Europeans (aged 16-26) experiences of education, work and training in the context of the UK withdrawal from the EU. The number of young people from Europe growing up in UK has risen sharply over past 15 years, particularly since the accession of 10 East-Central European states to the EU. These young people have spent their formative years experiencing multiple transitions and border-crossings related to moving home, learning English, changing education systems, finding work in a precarious and austere economic climate and forming key relationships in the context of divisive political rhetoric surrounding immigration. How do this sizeable cohort of young people navigate these transitions in different parts of the UK, as they develop plans for the future and pathways to citizenship? Existing inequalities in education and employment, combined with new challenges fuelled by Brexit, are shaping the choices of EU nationals about whether to remain or leave the UK (Lulle et al., 2016; King & Williams, 2017), with a dramatic decline in the level of EU immigration since the Brexit referendum in 2016 (ONS, 2019). Given the positive fiscal impact of EU migration to the UK and the reliance on this labour supply in key sectors of the economy (Wadsworth, 2018), there is an urgent need to better understand young people's education and employment trajectories and how employers are planning for and responding to potential changes in workforce demographics after Brexit.
A multi-disciplinary team of researchers combine expertise in migration and population studies, education and social policy to design and produce a series of significant research outcomes. First, the study reviews the evidence on educational and employment pathways and challenges for young Europeans through a systematic analysis of existing data sets and targeted, sustained engagement with practitioners and policy makers to identify key policy and practice challenges.
Second, the study produces new longitudinal data on the changing aspirations, experiences and outcomes of young Europeans in education, training and employment to highlight how their plans evolve and what barriers they face and sometimes overcome.
Third, the study uses a participatory research approach to explore young people's perceptions and experiences of settlement and citizenship in the UK, in the context of Brexit. Involving young people as co-researchers, the study will explore their aspirations for the future; sense of belonging and citizenship in the UK; perspectives on potential constitutional change in the UK and the EU; and engagements with social movements and digital activism.
The research offers original data on how young Europeans living in diverse geographical locations adapt to the multiple transitions of growing up as a migrant in the context of regional political transformation. We consider how these dynamics actively shape pathways to citizenship and a sense of belonging in the UK, or particular parts of it. The study fills a gap in research by employing an intersectional approach to analysing young Europeans' experiences of Brexit alongside key youth transitions, with potential to inform UK-wide and devolved policy and practice tackling the challenge of youth marginalisation and migrant integration. In depth longitudinal data on young people's educational aspirations, work experiences and citizenship practices provides insight into how 'integrated' European migrant youth feel in different nations of the UK, connected to various representations of 'nation' that circulate in policy, political and public discourses. Importantly, the study also addresses the relative absence of migrant youth voices in public debate and provide policy makers and the public with a more rigorous understand of the everyday lives of young migrants.</p
House Price Per Square Metre in England and Wales, 1995-2024
No full textThis repository is the fourth updated version of the attribute-linked residential property price dataset in the UK Data Service ReShare (854240) (https://reshare.ukdataservice.ac.uk/854240/). This dataset contains individual property transactions and associated variables from both Land Registry Price Paid Dataset (LR PPD) and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC, formerly MHCLG) Domestic Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) data. It is a linked dataset produced by address matching between LR PPD data (1/1/1995–31/10/2024) and Domestic EPC data (up to 31/10/2024). It is the full version of the 2024 update of the dataset published in the Greater London Authority (GLA) London Datastore (https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/house-price-per-square-metre-in-england-and-wales).
The linked dataset (tranall_link_26122024) provided here is the initial, uncleaned version, intended to offer maximum flexibility for users to clean the data according to their research purposes. This linked dataset records over 22 million transactions with 106 variables across England and Wales, covering the period from 01/01/1995 to 31/10/2024. We have provided technical validation and data cleaning code in UKDA ReShare 854240 to help users evaluate the data structure and perform their own cleaning. There is no single way to clean this raw linked dataset, so we encourage users to develop their own cleaning process based on their research needs.
This repository also includes the original Land Registry Price Paid Data (LR PPD) and Domestic EPCs used to create the linked dataset (house price per square metre dataset). Unlike previous versions, this updated dataset no longer includes the id variable (created by the authors). Instead, for the first time, both the Domestic EPCs and the linked dataset retain the LMK_KEY variable, which originates from the Domestic EPCs dataset. This change was made because LMK_KEY serves as a unique identifier, with no duplicate records since 2024. Five address-related variables from the original Domestic EPCs dataset(ADDRESS1, ADDRESS2, ADDRESS3, POSTCODE, and ADDRESS) have been removed from the EPC data in this repository. The priceper and classt variables were created by the authors and can be found in the linked dataset (tranall_link_26122024.zip). A detailed explanation of these fields is available on the GLA London Datastore (https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/house-price-per-square-metre-in-england-and-wales). The lad23cd field originates from the NSPL dataset. Since November 2021, DLUHC has published Domestic EPCs with the Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN). As a result, both the EPC and the full linked dataset in this repository include UPRN information from the Domestic EPC
Ministry of Justice Synthetic Data First Cross-Justice System Linking Dataset, England and Wales, 2011-2023
No full textAbstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) Data First Synthetic Data Project aims to improve engagement with Data First datasets by making synthetic versions of content available to enable more rapid development of research proposals and to thereby enhance the potential for linked administrative data to improve understanding and outcomes across justice systems. The project has led the development of two components: a dataset generation platform and an initial release of lo-fidelity, synthetic data tables.This study includes a synthetically-generated version of the Ministry of Justice Data First cross-justice system linking dataset. Synthetic versions of all 43 tables in the MoJ Data First data ecosystem have been created. These versions can be used / joined in the same way as the real datasets. As well as underpinning training, synthetic datasets should enable researchers to explore research questions and to design research proposals prior to submitting these for approval. The code created during this exploration and design process should then enable initial results to be obtained as soon as data access is granted.
The cross-justice system linking datasets allows users to join up information from data sources across the justice system (courts, prisons, probation) and should be used in conjunction with other datasets shared as part of the Data First Programme.
Records relating to individual justice system users can be linked using unique identifiers provided for people involved. This connects people involved in different parts of the criminal justice system or that have interacted with the civil or family courts. This allows for longitudinal analysis and investigation of repeat appearances and interactions with multiple justice services, which will increase understanding around users, their pathways and outcomes.
This dataset does not itself contain information about people or their interactions with the justice system, but acts as a lookup to identify where records in other datasets are believed to relate to the same person, using our probabilistic record linkage package, Splink.
The person link table contains rows with references to all records in the individual datasets that have been linked to date plus new identifiers, generated in the linking process, which enables these records to be grouped and linked across the datasets.
Datasets currently linkable using this dataset are:
Ministry of Justice Data First magistrates’ court defendant - England and WalesMinistry of Justice Data First Crown Court defendant - England and WalesMinistry of Justice Data First prisoner custodial journey - England and WalesMinistry of Justice Data First probation- England and WalesMinistry of Justice Data First family court - England and WalesMinistry of Justice Data First civil court - England and Wales
It is expected that this table will be extended to include more datasets in future.
The case link table links cases between the criminal courts only (for example identifying cases that began in the magistrates' court and have been committed to the Crown Court for trial or sentence, or on appeal). This allows users to follow cases from start to finish and prevent double counting.</p
Responsible Research and Innovation: Engineering Biology for Cell and Gene Applications, 2022-2023
No full textThe research of which this data collection is a part sought gain insight into how engineering biologists saw their research and lives as researchers in the field of mammalian engineering biology/synthetic biology, and to explore connections between these and the theory and practice of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) in the context of engineering biology research for cell and gene therapies. The principle aim was to improve our knowledge of the theory and practice and RRI. Key findings included the importance of integrating an approach to time and temporality into our conceptual understandings of and practical approach to RRI.Cell therapy and gene therapies (CGTs) are interrelated areas of biomedical research and treatment that aim to treat, prevent, and potentially cure diseases. Cell therapy aims to treat diseases by restoring or altering certain sets of cells or by using cells to carry a therapy through the body. Gene therapy aims to treat diseases by replacing, inactivating or introducing genes into a patient's cells. Both cell and gene therapies overlap in that they necessitate the transfer of new genetic material to cells to produce what could be thought of as "living medicines". The most commonly used cell therapy at present is Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy for treating blood cancers. This involves genetic modification of patient's own T-cells to express a CAR specific for a tumour antigen, following by ex vivo cell expansion and re-infusion back to the patient enabling to the engineered T Cell to identify cancer cells and destroy them.
The global cell and gene therapy manufacturing market size was valued at USD 13.1 billion in 2020 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.3% from 2021 (57.4B). Despite their promise, these therapies are limited providing little control over their dosage, timing, or localization and are often prohibitively expensive. These shortcomings can be overcome by using Engineering Biology to create the next generation of cell and gene therapies. We will use our unique automated facilities to develop new engineering biology tools, and solutions for the bottlenecks in the production CGTs and enable new, inexpensive and safe therapies for future clinical applications. The research will be split into four Engineering Biology Work Packages:1. Genetic Devices for Control in CGTs, 2. Delivery Mechanisms, 3. Standardisation of Cell Lines and 4. Responsible Research and Innovation.</p
Stakeholders’ Assessment of Goals, Co-Benefits, Barriers and Enablers to Urban Biodiversity, 2023
No full textDespite the increasing importance and attention paid to the issue of delivering biodiversity, less attention has been given to how biodiversity will be protected and enhanced during developed and redevelopment in an urban context. This data set is part of the BiUrbs project. It details stakeholder’s rankings of importance of various goals, co-benefits, barriers and enablers related to delivery of biodiversity in urban contexts through new development. It was designed to generate a better understanding of the relative importance of the wide range of factors that might influence biodiversity delivery in urban development and redevelopment.
To approach this question, we employed the Delphi methodology of stakeholder assessment with controlled feedback. This entailed 1) the synthesis of potential goals, co-benefits, barriers and enablers from existing literature and a stakeholder workshop 2) the assessment of these for importance via a survey 3) the re-assessment of these through a second survey in which participants were provided with the median importance score from the first round. The results of this second round are provided here. Our assessment used medians of this second round as the assessment of importance and the interquartile range as the assessment of consensus between participants. Participants were stakeholders in the built environment across construction, planning local government, housing associations and environmental consultants.
The Delphi method is a structured communication process that aims to generate insight regarding current or future challenges. It is particularly useful in situations where there is lack of readily available information on the current challenge as whole (Beiderbeck et al, 2021). These methods are used to promote the generation of a reliable consensus viewpoint from stakeholders where possible and capturing differences of opinion between panel members.
Beiderbeck D., et al. Preparing, conducting, and analyzing Delphi surveys: Cross-disciplinary practices, new directions, and advancements. MethodsX. 2021;8:101401.Biurbs - valuing biodiversity in multi-functional urban development and environments
The UK Government's Nature Positive 2030 report recommends businesses, organisations, cities, and local authorities adopt targets to become Nature Positive - putting the crises of biodiversity loss and climate change on an equal footing. There is a gap between this national level ambition to enhance biodiversity and implementation on the ground, particularly evident in urban environments.
Densification or the compact city approach is a main strategy for urban development. Urbanisation and densification have resulted in environmental degradation and severe habitat fragmentation in towns and cities. This impacts the resilience of remaining bio-diversity pockets and diminishes the effectiveness of proposed enhancements. The failure to move towards a system of net environmental gain in development risks undermining the government's plans for a green recovery.
Biodiversity may benefit other eco-system services, such as sustainable drainage, outdoor recreation, and noise and heat attenuation, yet the economic value of biodiversity is undercounted in existing planning tools. Furthermore, there is a need to understand the spatial needs of the eco-system services and different types of biodiversity to ensure that they function as intended and are resilient over the long-term. Such an integrated approach will recognise both synergistic benefits and trade-offs that will be critical in understanding local vs national or global benefits.
Biurbs is co-led by a multi-disciplinary team of leading researchers from across the country and innovative architecture and green infrastructure practitioners. The research engages with decision makers and stakeholders, to help inform practical, well-grounded tools and guidance. The research assesses the economic value of these benefits to different land-uses. It considers different biodiversity conservation practices as part of an integrated suite of eco-system services, and where these practices may be best implemented through new development/regeneration. The research examines micro (site) and meso (local neighbourhoods) spatial scales and examine land-uses within these areas, namely: residential, industry & commerce, community & public buildings, transport & infrastructure, outdoor recreation. Twenty exemplary real world urban sites will be examined, and lessons learned. Two sites are to be examined in-depth to assess how the state-of-the-art approach to biodiversity improvement can be integrated into planning and how this impacts the economics of urban land-uses.
The project involves extensive collaboration with UK stakeholders to ensure the work is relevant to decision making in practice and addresses the Government's nature conservation and greening objectives as well as wider societal factors including adapting to climate change and social cohesion. Improved understanding of the economics of biodiversity within greenfield and brownfield spaces will empower decision makers including communities, built environment professionals and local authorities to protect and enhance the natural capital in urban areas.
The research will be connected through four work packages that link to two themes of the call: Biodiversity in decision making and Management tools for decision makers. The results will be disseminated through non-technical reports to improve understanding and uptake across the sector and supported by in-depth economic and technical assessment work.</p
Open City Project: Field Data, 2021-2023
No full textThe three-year project, funded by the ESRC, looked at the social and political life of the city to test whether the utopian ideal of the Open City exists in real life, and explore issues of race, migration, mobility and living with diversity. It explores how the city accommodates new forms of urban life, through the social configuration of its spaces and places, and looks at the ways urban government at the city-wide and borough scales reflect, promote or limit the idea of the Open City.
The concept of the Open City has been developed by architects, planners and theorists to describe a place of social integration, cultural diversity and collective identity, where different cultures and lifestyles co-exist and interaction leads to enrichment. It contrasts with urban spaces where commercial malls, gated communities and poor transport networks drive increased fragmentation and new diversities are characterised by dynamics of intolerance and antagonism.
The project investigated the assumption that the open city is the good city, or not, by examining the real lived experienced of the open and closed dimensions of city life.
The collection consists of the following data:
- Hilgrove Housing Estate Household Survey Data - 130 Households, data includes the raw survey data, the survey questionnaire, and the survey data analysis report including survey methodology.
- Ethnographic notes: Estates - Hilgrove and Chalcots Estate residents. Data include two field diaries extensive field work in North Camden 2021-2023.
- Ethnographic notes: Cycling - 9 Refugee and Asylum seeking women . Data include two field diaries from arts-based co-production project taking place during the summer of 2022 with women seeking asylum given bicycles by The Bike Project in London.
- Participatory mapping - Hilgrove and Chalcots Estate residents. Data include two maps generated from workshops with local residents discussing their ideas of neighborhood boundaries and locations, and the agenda for the workshop.For urbanists such as Saskia Sassen and Richard Sennett, the open city is incomplete, errant, conflictual, and non-linear. Unlike the closed city, which is full of metaphorical and literal boundaries and walls. This project explores these dimensions of city life, not as a dichotomy, but as a series of lived problematics, both social and political. The central dilemmas we will research relate to this overarching concern: what are the limits of the open city? This prompts specific issues. How open has the city been? How do people negotiate the open and closed aspects of their lives? What are the politics of living with others in the city?
This project is concerned with the ways that the turbulent micro- and macro-politics of city life enables people to live together. It explores older questions of social cohesion and newer questions of neighbourliness by exploring the ways that people move back and forward between everyday civility or indifference to forms of hospitality and community as well as the everyday issues that make a difference to patterns of co-existence and dwelling in the city.
As a city that is constantly being remade by its inhabitants, as well as experiencing considerable and on-going development, with pressures on public services and resources in housing, education and employment, London is an exemplary place to examine how people dwell or co-exist and even thrive in the city. In London, constant change affords people the opportunity to make different temporal and spatial claims over belonging to the city while also providing many everyday and structural sites of friction. This is arguably unique, yet London is comprised of ordinary places and ways of living, situated in unexceptional wider social and spatial arrangements, that enable wider lessons to be drawn.
Given this, the key research questions are: (1) In what ways has the city enabled or circumscribed practices of welcoming, generosity and solidarity within it? (2) in what ways does the city shape urban dwelling in times of perceived rapid social change? (3) How do people negotiate the variable (building, street, neighbourhood, city, national and transnational) geographies of settlement and mobility in their everyday lives? (4) How do old and new social cleavages play out in these social and spatial arrangements - and how can city government, and other civic actors, manage those cleavages?
Using a multi-scalar, mixed methods approach, the project will be able to explore the dynamics of London life at the city-wide, borough and street / tower block scales, using a blend of historical, qualitative, quantitative and online techniques. This will enable the project to understand the specificity of each case study site in ways that address the unique histories and geography of each location, while also drawing together the ways that the issues which emerge in each site around housing and other resources (e.g. the diverse and competing claims to belonging and ownership or the different space-times of city life) cut across specific locations. The project will draw on and utilise social media and digital methods to understand the relationship between physical, virtual and imagined spaces.
The project has been designed in collaboration with a range of stakeholders in London, including the Greater London Authority, Camden Council, and social movements such as City of Sanctuary. These stakeholders have all identified the question of migration into, and within, the city as a critical issue that urgently needs to be rethought. This project seeks to go beyond the various policies and politics of migration by looking at population churn, transformations in old and new forms of ethnic and racial difference, and spatial mobility to address the contemporary politics of the city. More, it builds on historical analysis to engage and synthesise a number of strands of social science disciplinary thinking to analyse and inform developments in policy and urban theory.</p
Sixteenth-Century English Accident Inquests, 1500-1600
No full textSixteenth-century English accident inquests complete deposit is a spreadsheet with details extracted from 8888 coroners' inquests into accidental deaths in sixteenth-century England held at the National Archives. It was created as part of a project funded by the ESRC from 2011 to 2015, ‘Everyday life and fatal hazard in sixteenth-century England’ (reference RES-062-23-2819). The aim was to explore everyday life through the circumstances of accidental death. The inquests date from every year of the sixteenth century and come from almost every county in England, though because of their divergent administrative systems Lancashire, Cheshire, County Durham and the city of London are not included. The data collection underpins the book An Accidental History of Tudor England: From Daily Life to Sudden Death (London, John Murray, 2025). The deposit contains both a csv file version and a version in Excel. It is fuller than the previous deposit ‘First deposit of sixteenth-century English accident inquests’ and includes corrections to data presented there.This data collection consists of a spreadsheet with details extracted from 8888 coroners' inquests into accidental deaths in sixteenth-century England held at the National Archives.
Tudor England was a dangerous place. There were plagues and wars, perilous childbirths and shocking infant mortality. But what risks did people face as they went about their everyday lives?
Thousands of coroner's inquest reports on accidental deaths preserved at The National Archives allow us to investigate. These reports cover almost the whole of England, town and country, young and old, men and women, rich and poor. They tell us about working practices in farming, industry and housework and about leisure activities such as football, swimming, bell-ringing and riverside flower-picking, even the risks of getting too close to performing bears. They show contrasts between men's and women's lives, between different agricultural regions, between different times of day and seasons of the year. They show changes across the century, such as the replacement of archery by guns. They underpin this book: Steven Gunn, Tomasz Gromelski, An Accidental History of Tudor England: From Daily Life to Sudden Death (London: John Murray, 2025).</p