Hi Kirsty, can you tell us about your key research interests and a project you’re currently working on?

My main areas of interest are antisocial behaviour (behaviour that causes alarm, nuisance, annoyance or distress), social housing and wider welfare provisions and inequality. My current research project is working with Migration Yorkshire to explore how migrants, refugees and asylum seekers experience antisocial behaviour as victims, something that is currently missing from research and practice debates. If you are interested to find out more, here is a link to a recent blog about the early research findings.

Can you tell us about your career journey to date? How did your experiences - both academic and professional - lead you to your current role?

I decided to leave college after one year and instead, started an apprenticeship in Customer Service at a social housing provider when I was 17 years old. I think this role really developed my interest in inequality and welfare provision and, as I progressed from apprentice to Customer Service Advisor, and then to Neighbourhood Officer, I was able to offer more direct support to tenants to sustain their tenancies. This gave me insight into how poverty and other intersecting inequalities, such as gender, ethnicity, experiences of domestic abuse and many more can make it harder for some people to access and retain social housing and other welfare.

It was from this experience that I decided to return to education and complete my undergraduate degree in Social Policy and Social Work, followed by a Master’s in Social Research and PhD in Social Policy and Social Work.

I applied, and was successful for, a Lecturer of Criminology role at Leeds Beckett University in the months before submitting my PhD. I think the combination of my practice experience, education and genuine alignment with the values at Leeds Beckett of supporting students from diverse backgrounds succeed in their degrees helped me to be successful in this application.

What have been the key milestones in your journey from your first academic role to where you are today?

Whilst I was a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of York whilst completing my degree (the equivalent to Part Time Lecturers at LBU), my first ‘real’ academic role was Lecturer in Criminology. I have actually only been at Leeds Beckett since 2021 and in that time, I graduated from my PhD, had my son and published three peer reviewed academic papers based on the research from my PhD.

In 2024, I applied for the role of Course Director for Criminology, and was successful. I think these have all been key milestones for me to develop as a researcher and as a lecturer, as well as, with the birth of my son, a reminder to have a clear separation and balance between work and home life.

I remember being told when I was PhD student that it was not possible to do a good job as an academic without being willing to work outside your working hours. I can’t speak for every workplace, but I will say that I do not work outside of working hours and I think I am a better academic for it. We are all more effective when we take breaks, connect with our family or friends and enjoy ourselves outside of work.

What first drew you to research? Did you always intend to pursue an academic career, or was this something that developed over time?

I never really intended to become an academic at all – sometimes I’m not quite sure what happened! I actually pursued a PhD because I really wanted the research to be done. When I was an Undergraduate completing my Dissertation project, I realised there was very little research on antisocial behaviour interventions that included perpetrator perspectives. Additionally, my role as a neighbourhood officer in a social housing provider allowed me to see that antisocial behaviour perpetrators were often not asked for feedback on how antisocial behaviour interventions had impacted them, whereas, in contrast, victims were always asked for feedback on the process.

I felt that this was an important area of research that was missing from academic and practice debate (and still do!), and therefore, I applied for funding to conduct a PhD research project on this topic. I fully intended to return to practice following the completion of my PhD, however, I really enjoyed the research process. I also felt that I was likely to be able to make more effective and wider change through research than I was on the individual, small scale changes I could enact as a housing officer.

Reflecting on your PhD experience, what aspects of the training and support were most valuable in preparing you for life after completing your doctorate?

Whilst completing my PhD, I always took advantage of the training available to me, particular in areas related to career progression, publishing work and research methodologies. I wasn’t always certain about what I wanted to do when I finished my PhD, but I knew I wanted to make the most of the opportunity and to make sure the research I was doing did justice to the voices of my participants.

Not only did this help to keep me focused, and inform me of my options on my PhD completion, it also helped me to make connections with other postgraduate research students, helping me to feel more like I was part of a community. Sometimes, the PhD can be isolating – it’s helpful to remember you aren’t on your own!

I think the most valuable providers of support were my supervisors and my friends who were also completing a PhD at the same time. My supervisors were supportive and engaged in my project, could advise me on the process of completing a PhD and also suggested opportunities for development, such as giving lectures and seminars, attending and presenting at conferences and applying for jobs. My friends, on the other hand, provided an outlet to the general joys and frustrations of a PhD. We developed a support network that remains to this day, even though we have all now successfully completed our degrees and are at different institutions.

What opportunities or experiences have helped you strengthen your research profile and progress in your career?

Attending and presenting at conferences has been really helpful in building my research profile, getting feedback on projects and building links with academics at other universities. Most conferences are quite friendly and supportive of postgraduate researchers, so I would recommend presenting at formal conferences early. You will build confidence the more you do it and you could get really helpful feedback, as well as something to add to your CV!

Taking advantage of calls for papers or book chapters was also helpful – I was published in the Social Policy Review after a call for chapters on relevant and current issues in social policy. The call for papers was in 2023 and the Review was published in 2024, making it quite a quick turnaround in comparison with some other routes for peer-reviewed publications. It’s also worth submitting abstracts to The Conversation – this was one of my first publications and is an excellent way to get experience in publishing and to share your research and findings with a non-academic audience.

Finally, collaborating with Migration Yorkshire has been a wonderful way to design and conduct research that could help to inform practice. Whilst collaborating with non-academic partners is not always easy, the insight they offer into practice, and the help they can give in conducting research and accessing research populations can be invaluable!

What advice would you give to postgraduate research students and Early Career Researchers as they navigate their next career steps, whether in academia or beyond?

My advice is to try and keep an open mind about where your PhD may take you and try not to compare yourself too much to your peers – everyone’s journey looks different, but you will find something that works for you. You don’t need to apply for every job that comes up – instead, take your time on the applications for jobs/roles/funding that really aligns with your values. Your passion and enthusiasm will come across in your application.

Looking ahead, what are your goals for your research and career over the next five years?

In the short term, I’d like to publish on my current research project. I am currently writing the report for Migration Yorkshire but intend to submit a couple of journal articles too. We are also hoping to have a short animation from the research findings to share widely.

Moving forward, I would like to apply for a research grant for a larger scale project related to antisocial behaviour – whilst this was a topic that was researched extensively in the 1990s and early 2000s, it has been less explored in recent years and, I would argue, is still something that lots of people experience and care about.

In my broader role as Course Director, I’d also like to oversee the roll out of the new degree design - and to work with students and staff to ensure our undergraduate degree is interesting, inclusive and relevant to their future careers. Maybe we will get a few future researchers from there too!