Katharine D'Souza, Erika Hawkes and Catherine Mills
The purpose of this paper is to highlight developments in evaluation of researcher development training undertaken by the University of Birmingham's Graduate School. It details…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to highlight developments in evaluation of researcher development training undertaken by the University of Birmingham's Graduate School. It details the mixed methods analysis techniques applied and shows how results are used to shape future training provision.
Design/methodology/approach
Initial analysis is carried out immediately following each course to ensure it meets the needs of current students. Deeper analysis is undertaken on an annual basis to draw out trends and issues. This allows us to see overall satisfaction with each course as well as identifying the most helpful elements, what could be changed, and what other courses students would like to see. As a case study this paper demonstrates the quantitative and qualitative evaluation undertaken on the Academic Writing, Part Time Researcher and Viva Preparation courses run in recent years and shows how the results can be measured using the Rugby Team Impact Framework.
Findings
Analysis of our courses has revealed conclusions which will steer future course development and demonstrates the value of researcher development training.
Practical implications
Our results give us confidence that our training programme delivers what our students need.
Originality/value
These methods could be applied to researcher development training programmes elsewhere.
Details
Keywords
Presents a special issue, enlisting the help of the author’s students and colleagues, focusing on age, sex, colour and disability discrimination in America. Breaks the evidence…
Abstract
Presents a special issue, enlisting the help of the author’s students and colleagues, focusing on age, sex, colour and disability discrimination in America. Breaks the evidence down into manageable chunks, covering: age discrimination in the workplace; discrimination against African‐Americans; sex discrimination in the workplace; same sex sexual harassment; how to investigate and prove disability discrimination; sexual harassment in the military; when the main US job‐discrimination law applies to small companies; how to investigate and prove racial discrimination; developments concerning race discrimination in the workplace; developments concerning the Equal Pay Act; developments concerning discrimination against workers with HIV or AIDS; developments concerning discrimination based on refusal of family care leave; developments concerning discrimination against gay or lesbian employees; developments concerning discrimination based on colour; how to investigate and prove discrimination concerning based on colour; developments concerning the Equal Pay Act; using statistics in employment discrimination cases; race discrimination in the workplace; developments concerning gender discrimination in the workplace; discrimination in Japanese organizations in America; discrimination in the entertainment industry; discrimination in the utility industry; understanding and effectively managing national origin discrimination; how to investigate and prove hiring discrimination based on colour; and, finally, how to investigate sexual harassment in the workplace.