TEN REASONS WHY THE SOCIAL SCIENCES MATTER

Our framework for this was Audrey Osler’s 10 reasons why you need social science publication as part of the Campaign for Social Science. Each week we took a different theme, such as how social scientists can help us imagine the future, contribute to our health and wellbeing, and make our neighbourhoods safer, tweeting an example of our work each day.

We shared new content published on our blog pages, including Dr Bridgette Rickett on the Psychology of Social Class, Dr Jolanta Shields on Why Social Sciences are Vital to the Health Economy, Dr Or Raviv on the State of State Finances, and Dr Paula Singleton on the work of the Stigmatised Sexualities and Sexual Harm research group. We also shared work that colleagues in the school had published elsewhere, such as Dr Olayinka Ajala’s article on Niger’s Democratic Transition from the UK Conversation website, Dr Chris Till’s reflections on Living Under the Medical Gaze in a Time of Pandemics from the British Sociological Association’s Cost of Living blog, and Dr Lisa Long on post Decolonizing Criminology from the British Societies of Criminology’s Policing Network blog. You can find all the stories we shared on our Twitter account @BeckettSocSci or by searching our #TenReasons hashtag.

As Dean of the School, I am proud of our work and the colleagues and students who produce it. However, we know that the more we work with others who share our vision, the more we can achieve together. So, I invite you, whether you are looking to study a course at university, a research user or potential research collaborator, an employer, business, public or third sector organisation, to get in touch with us and let’s see what more we achieve can together.