[Commlist] Funded Studentship: Understanding Diversity in the Scottish Screen Sector

Call for applicants for a fully funded PhD researching diversity in the 
Scottish screen sector


The PhD is fully funded for 42 months by the Scottish Graduate School 
for Arts and Humanities. The candidate will be based at UWS in Paisley 
and supervised by a team from BBC, University of West of Scotland and 
University of Glasgow.  The deadline is the 21st of May.

https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/understanding-diversity-in-the-scottish-screen-sector-the-role-of-perception-and-education-in-unblocking-talent-pipelines-phdbci2021001/?p132125 



About the Project

The University of the West of Scotland in partnership with the 
University of Glasgow, SGSAH, SFC and BBC Scotland are offering a 3.5 
year fulltime funded PhD.

 Background

The UK screen sector faces a crisis of representation. Recent research 
reports identify a lack of diversity on and off screen that result in 
limitations on the kind of stories that end up on screen, in a 
self-fulfilling representational loop. Breaking this cycle involves a 
transformation in the talent pipelines that attract diverse creatives 
into the industry.

The 2018 Workforce Diversity in the UK Screen Sector Evidence Review, 
recommends that current research should seek to integrate quantitative 
and qualitative studies, stating that, “smaller scale qualitative 
studies would allow in-depth analysis of the relationships, processes 
and practices behind statistics.” To date only limited qualitative 
research has been undertaken within the Scottish screen sector.



The Project

This project sets out to explore the diversity challenge in the Scottish 
screen industries, asking how to facilitate and ensure equal 
representation among the storytellers and programme makers of tomorrow? 
The project will seek to identify barriers to entry into the screen 
industry as well as shortcomings in the existing approaches to 
attracting and retaining a more diverse workforce in Scotland.

 Working with the BBC, we anticipate that the research questions will 
be addressed through employing an intersectional methodology, 
specifically by undertaking (a) a critical literature review and 
analysis of existing data and reports on diversity within the Scottish 
screen industries, with reference to BBC Scotland, (b) a qualitative 
study amongst Scottish BAME school pupils and their parents on 
perceptions of the screen industries and the BBC (c) a critical review 
of existing screen education, training opportunities, talent schemes and 
outreach initiatives in Scotland. Based on the outcomes of this research 
we would expect the project to propose initiatives as to where, when, 
and how, interventions should be deployed to best address the accepted 
position of a lack of diversity within the Scottish screen sector.

The PhD will be based in the Creative Media Academy (CMA) at the 
University of the West of Scotland (Paisley campus). The student will be 
supervised by the director of the CMA, Professor Nick Higgins and 
Khadija Mohammed of the School of Education, University of the West of 
Scotland, in addition to supervision from Dr. Inge Sorenson of the 
Centre for Cultural Policy Research at the University of Glasgow and 
Sandeep Gill, Project Lead on People and Culture at BBC Scotland. The 
student will have the opportunity to be based at the BBC Scotland 
Pacific Quay, Glasgow site for 6 months of the 3.5 year studentship.

This Applied Research Collaborative PhD study (ARCS) is funded in part 
by the Scottish Graduate School for the Arts and Humanities (SGSAH), the 
Scottish Funding Council (SFC), University of the West of Scotland and 
University of Glasgow.



More information and applying

We particularly welcome applications from Scottish Black, Asian and 
Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates. UWS is committed to creating a 
diverse workforce and to improving employment opportunities for ethnic 
minorities in Scotland.

The Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings for 2021 measures 
universities’ success in delivering against the United Nations’ 
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), and has placed UWS as first in 
Scotland and fifth in the UK for SDG 10 – reducing inequalities.

Informal inquiries to Professor Nick Higgins ((Nick.Higgins /at/ uws.ac.uk)) or 
Khadija Mohammed ((Khadija.Mohammed /at/ uws.ac.uk)) but applications can only 
be accepted through the UWS online system 
(https://www.uws.ac.uk/study/research-degrees/admissions-application/)

Please state on your research application and in your research proposal 
that you are applying for a Studentship and please quote the Studentship 
name and reference number.

Timetable

Closing date for applications: Friday 21st May 2021

Interviews are provisionally scheduled: Wednesday 2nd June 2021 
(date/time to be confirmed)

Start date: October 2021

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