Inequality in Education – Innovation in Methods.
ESRC Interdisciplinary Conference and Workshop
Keynotes: |
Prof. Melanie Nind (University of Southampton) |
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Dr Nicola Ingram (University of Bath) |
About this event
Taking a critical stance on the idea of ‘innovation’ –what is it, why do it and does it improve our research?- this event offers critical training for students with an interest in innovation within the Social Sciences. Through presentations, keynotes and an interactive workshops, innovative ideas and practices will be exchanged. Delegates will broaden their knowledge of innovative methodologies for present and future social research as well as discussing how such methods can be drawn upon to reinvigorate and advance theory in the field of inequality in education.
The metamorphosis of the educational landscape in the UK has attracted significant debate amongst academics, politicians, educational practitioners, the media and lay persons. Issues such as: the recent education cuts, the overhaul of GCSEs in England, the rise in tuition fees and the expansion, privatisation and casualization of UK universities means that debate and research within the field of education is both timely and crucial. At the same time, the notion of ‘innovation’ has been placed at the heart of the methodological landscape. As such, many educational researchers, in focusing their scholarly attention to educational equality, have developed an array of innovative and exciting methodologies in order to access new data and new groups of people. Added to this, Social Science funding bodies are progressively inviting and fostering research proposals that are methodologically innovative. And so, the pressure for postgraduate research students to deliver ‘innovative’ social science research in order to demonstrate their competency within the global knowledge economy is on.
