Work Placements, Internships & Applied Social Research

Jackie Carter is a professor of statistical literacy at The University of Manchester. She co-directs the Q-Step Centre at The University of Manchester and leads the programme of paid internships which she established in 2013. In 2020 she was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship by Advance HE, the UK professional body that oversees teaching and learning in Higher Education, for her work on making an outstanding impact on student outcomes and the teaching profession in Higher education.She is also a Senior Fellow of Advance HE. She sits on the University of Glasgow’s Urban Big Data Centre’s Advisory Committee, the ESRC’s Strategic Advisory Network, and has previously held positions on various committees including with the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) and SEDA (Staff Educational Development Association). Jackie is passionate about giving students opportunities to develop their skills in the workplace. She draws on pedagogic research and was inspired by the work of Pablo Freire, author of Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Her work in the UK is now being developed in Latin America through the EmpoderaData projects, working with universities in Colombia and Brazil to develop immersion activities for undergraduates to acquire research and analytical and professional skills in social research careers, whilst studying. Jackie has won numerous research and teaching grants in her career and focuses on bringing data into the classroom, and on helping students acquire research and professional skills in the workplace.

• IntroductionChapter 1: Experiential learning and applied researchChapter 2: The benefits of experiential learning in applied social researchChapter 3: How to apply for a work placement or internshipChapter 4: How to prepare for, do and reflect on an interviewChapter 5: How to get through your first dayChapter 6: How to use a framework for reflectionChapter 7: How to develop your analytical and research skillsChapter 8: How to develop your professional skillsChapter 9: Using the work placement experience to inform continuing studyConclusion

This book has lots of practical advice to help you get the most out of your work-placement – read it before you start applying!