Emma Calvert

My research has primarily focused on the areas of employment, education and social inequalities and has encompassed quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods approaches. Prior to joining QUB, I was a Research Fellow at University College Dublin, working on the EU Framework project GINI which explored the drivers and impacts of social inequalities. While a researcher at the interdisciplinary Centre for Population Change (University of Southampton), I was part of the housing transitions of young adults research team. At the Economic and Social Research Institute (Dublin, ROI), I was involved in a range of policy-focused research, including a longitudinal study of second-level education, widening participation in higher education, a comparative study of work-life conflict in the EU and workplace bullying.

I am currently Principal Investigator of the Migrant and Employer Strategies Project, funded by the North South Research Programme. This project, in collaboration with Trinity College Dublin, investigates the experiences, intentions and strategies of EU nationals and employers in Ireland and Northern Ireland, who have been impacted by the UK’s change in immigration policy precipitated by Brexit.

From 2013-2018, I was Coordinator of the QUB Q-Step Centre, a UK-wide programme funded by the Nuffield Foundation, ESRC and HEFCE, which aimed to increase the shortage of social science graduates with quantitative skills. At QUB, we established a graduate exit route for students with specialised quantitative skills, as well as organised a successful work placement scheme with partners in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.

In collaboration with Dr Paula Devine, Co-Director of ARK, I was awarded funding from the Higher Education Academy to create teaching datasets and associated resources, drawing on the Northern Ireland Life and Times surveys.