Dr Jolanta Shields

Jolanta Shields is a Lecturer in Politics at Leeds Beckett University and an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She previously worked at the University of Manchester, where she completed her ESRC funded PhD on the role of Community Interest Companies in the English NHS.

Prior to joining Leeds Beckett, Jolanta was a Researcher at the University of Manchester’s Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine, where she worked on an oral history project exploring the social impact of Covid-19. Before that, she was involved in a number of research projects covering a wide range of issues such as social determinants of health, health inequality, and new models of care. Before academia Jolanta had a successful career in local government working for the Third Sector Team at Manchester City Council.

Jolanta’s work focuses on the health policy and public service reform in the English NHS. In particular, her research concerns the development of a hybrid form of organisation, Community Interest Company (CIC), within the NHS. Jolanta is interested in exploring how governance and specifically health system governance is affected by the earlier policy choices and shaped by the wider socio-political forces.

Undergraduate modules:

• Introduction to Governance
• The Modern State: Theories, Issues and Challenges
• Active Citizenship

Postgraduate modules:

• Development in Practice