Study Title: Longer-Term Working Lives of UK Armed Forces (UKAF) Women Veterans

Investigator: Andreana Glendinning

Introduction

You are invited to take part in a research study. Before you decide, you need to understand why the research is being done and what it would involve for you. Please take the time to read the following information carefully. Talk to others about the study if you wish.

Please ask me if there is anything that is not clear or if you would like more information. Take time to decide if you wish to take part.

Who is organising and funding the study?

The study is being organised by Andreana Glendinning for her Doctorate in Employment Research. Andreana has received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council to complete her Doctorate.

What is the study about?

The purpose of the study is to explore the longer-term working lives of women veterans. To do this there are 4 key questions to be discussed:

• How do UKAF women veterans arrive at decisions regarding their work course in the civilian world?
• What are UKAF women veterans’ experiences during transition from military to civilian working life?
• What are UKAF women veterans' experiences of work in civilian life?
• How do UKAF women veterans define success in civilian working life?

What would taking part involve?

Taking part in the study will involve completing a short online survey which will determine if you meet the criteria to have an interview online with the researcher (Andreana). The interview will take approximately one hour and will be audio recorded. Andreana will have access to the data you submitted in the questionnaire you completed on her student webpage, however once you have been interviewed the data will be anonymised and a pseudonym used in the research analysis. Should you decide not to take part your survey data will be deleted.

Do I have to take part?

No. Participation in this study is completely voluntary and choosing not to take part will not affect you in any way. You can also choose to withdraw your participation up to a month after your interview takes place, without giving a reason by contacting Andreana via email (andreana.glendinning@warwick.ac.uk). Further details about withdrawing from the study are provided later in this document.

What are the possible benefits of taking part in this study?

While there are no direct benefits to you from taking part in this study the findings will add to the body of evidence concerning women veterans in the UK and may inform policy and guidance for future women veterans during transition from military to civilian working life and beyond.

What are the possible disadvantages, side effects or risks, of taking part in this study?

You will be required to commit approximately 1 hour of your time to taking part in an interview.

Expenses and payments

There is no payment for taking part in this study.

Will my taking part be kept confidential?

Data will initially be collected using an online questionnaire via a webform on Andreana’s student webpage. This data will be processed to see if you are a suitable candidate for an interview.

Data will then be collected online during an interview and audio recorded. An online platform such as Microsoft Teams will be used to conduct and record the interview.

Your interview data will be analysed to find answers to the research questions stated earlier in this document.

Once your interview has been transcribed the data will be anonymised using a pseudonym and participant number. The pseudonym and number will be stored separately from the transcript, and securely on the University of Warwick server.

Anonymised data will be stored on the university hard drive until 10 years after the publication of the study, after which it will be reviewed to assess if the data should be retained or destroyed. This is in line with university policy.

No personal data will be shared.

Only the researcher, her supervisor and the IER administrator will have access to the data.

Direct quotes from interviews may be used in the thesis, this will be attributed to the pseudonym used for your interview transcript.

What will happen to the data collected about me?

As a publicly funded organisation, the University of Warwick must ensure that it is in the public interest when we use personally identifiable information from people who have agreed to take part in research. This means that when you agree to take part in a research study, such as this, we will use your data in the ways needed to conduct and analyse the research study.

We will be using information from you to undertake this study and will act as the data controller for this study. We are committed to protecting the rights of individuals in line with data protection legislation.

Research data will be anonymised as quickly as possible after data collection. This means all direct and indirect identifiers will be removed from the research data and will be replaced with a participant number and pseudonym. The key to identification will be stored separately and securely to the research data to safeguard your identity. Data can be withdrawn up to one month after your interview.

Data Sharing

Anonymised data will be shared with Andreana’s supervisor at the University of Nottingham as she has a joint studentship between the Universities of Warwick and Nottingham.

Your rights to access, change or move your information are limited, as we need to manage your information in specific ways for the research to be reliable and accurate. The University of Warwick has in place policies and procedures to keep your data safe.

For further information, please refer to the University of Warwick Research Privacy Notice which is available here: https://warwick.ac.uk/services/idc/dataprotection/privacynotices/researchprivacynotice or by contacting the Legal and Compliance Team at infocompliance@warwick.ac.uk

What will happen if I do not want to carry on being part of the study?

Participation is entirely voluntary, and you may withdraw from the study up to a month after your interview without giving a reason. The reason for the specified timeframe is that all data will be anonymised by the one month point after your interview therefore it would not be possible to withdraw your data after that point. Withdrawal from the study will not affect you in any way. You can withdraw by emailing Andreana on the email address below.

What will happen to the results of the study?

The results will be published in Andreana’s Doctoral Thesis and is likely to be included in journals for publication. The results may be discussed at conferences relevant to sociology, employment research and military veterans.

Who has reviewed the study?

This study has been reviewed and given favourable opinion by the University of Warwick’s Humanities and Social Science Research Ethics Committee (HSSREC).

Who should I contact if I want further information?

Andreana Glendinning (Researcher)

Andreana.glendinning@warwick.ac.uk

Dr. Sally-Anne Barnes (Supervisor)

Sally-Anne.Barnes@warwick.ac.uk

Who should I contact if I wish to make a complaint?

Any complaint about the way you have been dealt with during the study or any possible harm you might have suffered will be addressed. Please address your complaint to the person below, who is a senior University of Warwick official entirely independent of this study:

Head of Research Governance

Research & Impact Services

University House

University of Warwick

Coventry

CV4 8UW

Email: researchgovernance@warwick.ac.uk

Tel: 02476 575733

If you wish to raise a complaint on how we have handled your personal data, you can contact our Data Protection Officer who will investigate the matter: infocompliance@warwick.ac.uk

If you are not satisfied with our response or believe we are processing your personal data in a way that is not lawful you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

 

Thank you for taking the time to read this Participant Information Leaflet