Social mobility and intersectionality, Dr Denisse Sepúlveda Sanchez

Social mobility and intersectionality, the case of the Mapuche indigenous people in Chile Why is intersectionality so necessary in social mobility studies? There is extensive research focused on the experience of social mobility, but there are few articles focused on experiences of upward social mobility in indigenous people. For that reason, I would like to…

My top tips for organising a BSA PGForum Regional event, Ruth Beresford

I organised and hosted a BSA Postgraduate Regional Event in March 2018 while a third year PhD student at the University of Sheffield. My research relates to the sociological study of sex, sexuality and pornography, and over the course of my PhD it has not always been easy to meet researchers in the same area.…

So, you want to be a researcher? How and where to look for research funding post-PhD, Dr Sally Brown.

If you’re part way through your PhD, you will no doubt spend some time thinking about what comes next – a post-doc fellowship, a research post, a teaching job. Whatever you do, you will probably also be thinking about how you can get your research funded. That might be a fellowship where you’re funded to…

Navigating the academic job market – music edition, Dr F Zanatta and Dr J Javornik

Spotify Playlist:  https://open.spotify.com/user/fran_ny/playlist/1q60DL6bnFzfdj5FGDxFba Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin) PhD life is often described as stressful, busy, and lonely. In that unique creative loneliness, however, you are accompanied by your supervisors, fellow PhDs and – let’s not forget – the demons (i.e. the social and emotional foundations of and threats to your knowledge production): fear of…

Reflections on BSA Postgraduate Forum Life Post PhD: What’s Next? Denisse Sepúlveda Sánchez

I was awarded my PhD degree last summer and, after celebrating and relaxing, I started to ask myself the big question: what’s next? And then: what I should do? Will I stay in the academia? How can I get a job? How can I improve my research profile? How can I perform well in an…

Surviving the XIX ISA World Congress 2018, Emma Seddon

If the name makes it sound intimidating, it's because it is. The World Congress of the International Sociological Association (ISA) is held every four years and is an undeniably huge event. This year it was held at the Metro Toronto Convention Center in Toronto, Canada from 15 to 21 July. I sent my abstract off for…

Supporting Your Students to Write Clear Arguments, Dr Andrew Balmer and Prof Anne Murcott

As PhD students you might be involved in teaching undergraduates, whether in seminars, workshops, dissertation support or so on. In these roles you are often faced with the difficult challenge of helping students to improve their sociological skills, including their writing. In our book, The Craft of Writing in Sociology: Developing the Argument in Undergraduate…