Project Team
Exploring the journey of postgraduate research
The That's Me! Team is split into three work streams, investigating routes into, routes through and routes out of postgraduate research study.
Routes In
Applying an intersectional lens, the Routes-In Team will explore the pathways into and barriers to accessing postgraduate research study through engaging with, including via workshops, a range of stakeholders, including BCU PGRs and their families, BCU staff, regional employers, and wider communities.
The Routes-In Team will make recommendations for improving pathways, reducing barriers, and fostering inclusivity, especially in the context of PGR application and induction processes, and which can be piloted. In this context, the Routes-In Team will also investigate pre-research degree models, which aim to bridge the gap between UGT/PGT and PGR study, with a view to making recommendations for a best practice model.
Routes Through
The Routes Through Team will explore and define best practices about key aspects of the PGR experience, with a view to making recommendations that can be piloted.
These include supervision dynamics, styles and practices; EDI training and policy; the provision of ‘safe’ and ‘home-from-home’ spaces for PGRs; and the design and use of peer-to-peer networks, which see PGRs interact with each other direct to share knowledge, skills and experience, and reverse mentoring programs that involve PGRs mentoring experienced HE staff to share insights and guidance to promote learning, knowledge exchange and growth.
Routes Out
The Routes Out Team will engage with and broaden the That’s Me regional employer board to foster connections, including career opportunities, between regional employers and PGRs, across a range of industries and sectors. They will investigate the workforce needs of the region, the extent of existing regional employer involvement with and understanding of postgraduate research(ers), and strategies for engaging employers as coaches, allies, and mentors.
This will be done with a view to collaboratively developing an inclusive workforce strategy, including recruitment practices, for the region that values and harnesses its postgraduate research portfolio and widens routes out opportunities for PGRs.
