Summary
I have worked in a variety of teaching roles in non-compulsory education in the Hull area for around 25 years. This includes 20 years at a GFE college offering HE courses where I was a quality improvement and student support manager in the faculty of business and science. It was here that I noted that students on vocational degree level programmes, such as Foundation degrees and HNC/Ds having made a commitment to start their programmes of study sometimes dropped out of their studies, this led to my doctoral research and the title of my thesis, ‘The importance of absence: an investigation into the significance of resilience in retention on Higher Education courses in a Further Education College’. I studies for my doctorate in education through the open university and during my research I received the Lord Perry of Walton award for research in the social sciences.
I am currently a Lecturer in Education and Childhood at the University of Hull and teach on the Education degree and master’s programmes as well as supervising and examining PhDs. I also work with the University’s teaching excellence academy, and I am looking to extend my research with local HE in FE providers in the future.