Supervised by Prof. Helen Breadmore and Dr Sanne van der Kleij, together with the National Literacy Trust.
To apply for this studentship, please submit your application using this link
In our highly literate society, reading is essential for thriving in education and employment, and provides access to a wealth of social capita throughout adulthood. As a result, neurodiversity ‘a love of reading’ has become a focus of England’s National Curriculum. The time we spend reading voluntarily, for pleasure, is associated with subsequent reading and language development. Yet, evidence from the 2024 National Literacy Trust survey shows that young people’s engagement with reading is in crisis. The aim of this project is to better understand interactions between personal characteristics and environmental influences, barriers and motivators for reading at the transition into adulthood.
In this project, the PhD student will develop a psychometrically sound tool to characterise adolescents’ and young adults’ reading behaviours and motivations. This tool will be applied to consider how individual differences in person and social characteristics (e.g., gender, ethnicity, SEN, reading ability, social motivations and preferences) and environmental factors (e.g., socioeconomic circumstances including employment/education, access to reading resources, availability of support and encouragement to read) interact, to better understand the factors that associate with reading. The PhD student will benefit from the wide-ranging expertise of an interdisciplinary team including Prof Helen Breadmore (School of Education, University of Birmingham), Dr Sanne van der Kleij (School of Psychology, University of Birmingham), Dr Christina Clark and Irene Picton (National Literacy Trust). They will have opportunities for placements within the National Literacy Trust to extend and apply their research skills and gain invaluable understanding of public and policy engagement.
We are looking for a highly talented and dedicated PhD student with a 1st class or 2:1 degree in the field of Psychology, Education or allied disciplines. A Masters degree in a relevant area is desirable though not necessary. Similarly, previous experience working with young people and conducting quantitative research and associated analyses on similar topics is desirable.
The successful candidate will demonstrate some of the following attributes:
- Excellent written and communication skills
- Flexibility and ability to work both independently and as part of a team
- Effective project management, including recognising and responding to problems
- Responsiveness to feedback
- Experience with/interest in learning advanced statistical modelling techniques, such as Structural Equation modelling
Informal enquiries about the project prior to application can be directed to Prof Helen Breadmore (h.breadmore@bham.ac.uk) or Dr Sanne van der Kleij (s.w.vanderkleij@bham.ac.uk)