News

On the 1st May 2025, Professor Emily F. Henderson and Dr James Burford, Co-Directors of the Doctoral Education and Academia Research (DEAR) Centre at the University of Warwick, presented at the Midlands Research Culture Webinar titled "Addressing Doctoral Inequalities: Making Change in Doctoral Admissions and Reasonable Adjustments/Mitigating Circumstances." 

The webinar brought together researchers and practitioners to spotlight overlooked dimensions of inequality in doctoral education and to explore practical strategies for meaningful change. Find out more about the Midlands Research Culture Webinar SeriesLink opens in a new window.

Emily and James shared findings from key DEAR Centre projects:

• Pre-Application Doctoral Communications (PADC): Researching how the pre-application stage functions as a gatekeeping process within doctoral admissions. (www.warwick.ac.uk/PADC)
• MADE (Mitigation and Adjustment for Doctoral Education): Developing recommendations to enhance support systems through improved reasonable adjustment and mitigating circumstances policies. (www.warwick.ac.uk/MADE)

Their insights encouraged participants to rethink current practices and sparked meaningful discussions around transforming research culture for greater inclusion and equity.

You can watch the webinar recording on the DEAR Centre Youtube channel at https://youtu.be/BhfT8dt-qHI?si=5q1-OKxCHEf2US1vLink opens in a new window