CHASM International Fellows Scheme 2022

Mat is an Associate Professor in the Department of Social Work at UNC Greensboro, a Faculty Director and Visiting Scholar with the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis, an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC Chapel Hill, and member of the Academic Research Council of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Mat conducts research on micro economics, financial wellbeing, economic mobility, financial inclusion, student debt, access to health care, employment, and social policy with a focus on low- and moderate-income households.

CHASM International Visiting Fellowship research

Deirdre O'Loughlin is a Professor of Marketing at the Kemmy Business School in the University of Limerick. Her research interests lie in a broad range of areas including branding, services and relationship marketing and her PhD research (completed in 2003) focused on the role of branding and relationships within retail financial services. More recently, her research interests have focused on a range of critical marketing and consumption issues within online and offline settings, including the impact of austerity on individuals and households, consumer credit and debt, marketing and consumer responsibility considerations, as well as social and public policy outcomes. She has published in a broad range of highly ranked international peer reviewed journals including Journal of Service Research, Journal of Business Research, European Journal of Marketing, Sociology, Social Policy and Administration, The Services Industries Journal, Journal of Marketing Management, Journal of Strategic Marketing, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Irish Marketing Review, and the Australasia Journal of Marketing.

CHASM International Visiting Fellowship research

Dr Deirdre O’Loughlin is collaborating with CHASM’s Dr Caroline Moraes to explore the enduring effects and recurrent nature of crises such as austerity and COVID-19, which have highlighted the critical importance of investigating financial insecurity and the need to develop innovative strategies and policies to help support financial equality and welfare, and alleviate poverty. The study aims to investigate, identify and compare household and stakeholder perspectives on the nature and extent of current financial insecurity in post-austerity UK and Ireland, as both countries begin to emerge from the global pandemic. It will identify appropriate resilience strategies and responses as well as innovative policy interventions to address enduring financial insecurity leading to poverty through a two stage approach with interviews with representative organisations in both countries and in-depth interviews with a selection of participant households affected by financial insecurity.