This paper feeds into scholarly interest on place-based creative industrial development. It considers the creative-led economic development of two UK cities, Dundee and Chatham as emerging through a series of interdependent relationships between locally based higher education institutions (HEIs) and cultural and creative industries (CCIs) that are…

Using UK data supplied by universities, this paper confirms that women academics earn less than men, even after controlling for a range of covariates. Despite narrowing after 2004/05, the observed (unconditional) pay gap was still -0.089 in 2019/20, while the conditional pay gap was relatively unchanged remaining at around -0.050 in 2019/20. The…

Anecdotal reports of student parents' challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic prompted this explorative study; investigating the lived experiences of UK student parents and the provision of Higher Education support. Data was derived from 91 online surveys, 20 follow-up interviews, and analysis of 100 university websites. This occurred during the…

Utilizing the Survey of Adult Skills from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) and the OECD database, this study investigates the role of gender inequality and public social spending in the gender gap in Not in Employment, Education, or Training (NEET) risk across various age cohorts. The research identifies a…

Replete with espoused discourses of equality, diversity and inclusion within public bodies, is the UK, wherein lauded initiatives reward its universities' commitments to increasing the access and positioning of 'women' in higher education. This paper contributes a critical quantitative analysis of the state of representation and participation of…

This paper examines the underexplored implications of long-term international academic mobility on the lives of Turkish academics in the United Kingdom (UK). Within this international context, the study probes how ethnicity, gender, and religion intersect to shape these migrant academics' experiences while working at UK higher education…

Engineering is a large and diverse sector which is vital for the UK economy. It represents a considerable proportion of the UK workforce, with 18% of the UK working population based in engineering and at least 15% of the working population in every region in jobs that relate to the sector. Engineering also has a relatively strong reputation for…

Whether intended by education policy (e.g., via school entrance examinations) or unintended (e.g., via social stratification), selection effects in education (who goes where, gets what, and how much) shape educational opportunities -- influencing the life chances of individuals and groups, and the structure of societies. However, within the…

Since the 2000s, successive governments in the United Kingdom and elsewhere have embraced the idea of "raising aspiration" among young people as a solution to persisting educational and socio-economic inequalities. Previous analyses have argued that these policies tend to individualise structural disadvantage and promote a…

The concepts of decent work, inclusion and supporting individuals to find pathways to learning and work opportunities present new opportunities and real challenges. Job security, roles and labour markets are changing rapidly. We focus on how the UK careers support landscape in each of the four home nations is changing in response to the pandemic.…

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift to online assessment, prompting debates over validity, security, and increasingly the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, especially generative AI, on traditional examination methods. This paper explores perceptions of the evolving landscape of online assessment and the role of AI within higher…

Gender inequality in the workplace remains a persistent issue that impacts upon women from their first point of entry into the labour market. In this paper, we explore the experiences, of 20 women in the UK as they take their initial steps onto the career ladder upon graduation. Adopting an interpretive methodology that uses a Bourdieusian…

This report sets out a bold package of reform to stabilise, mobilise and then maximise the contribution of UK universities to economic growth and widening opportunity for all. It has a single aim: to create a UK university sector that is better in ten years' time than it is today. This blueprint is evidence-based, action-oriented and consciously…

This article examines the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on recent UK graduates' initial employment outcomes and how they experience the transition into a challenging labour market context. We draw on longitudinal survey and interview data, collected from recent graduates who had mainly graduated during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in…

Background: The advantages of including people with learning disabilities in research teams have been well described, but it is rare for researchers with learning disabilities to be employed at a university. This paper explores the extent to which university recruitment procedures are accessible to job applicants with learning disabilities.…