After the success of Martingale’s first reports ‘Access to and Success in Research-Intensive Postgraduate Courses’, and our 2024 Impact Report, we are excited to be launching a research project investigating which types of PhD programmes provide the best support and completion rates for students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds.
The investigation will involve a series of focus groups with current PhD students, former PhD students, and current PhD programme leaders and supervisors. The research will gather information on understanding and assessment of support across various types of PhD programmes and how those from low-socioeconomic backgrounds experience this.
The focus groups will be followed by a survey of current and former PhD students running throughout early summer 2025. This will allow Martingale to gain a more representative picture of support experiences across PhD programmes for those from low-socioeconomic backgrounds.
We are reaching out for participants now and are keen to hear from those who meet the criteria below:
- Current PhD students in a STEM field who have completed at least two years of PhD study and from a low-socioeconomic background who have UK ‘Home Fee’ status for their PhD programme
- Former PhD students who undertook a PhD in a STEM field (either completed PhD or left PhD study) from a low-socioeconomic background who had UK ‘Home Fee’ status during their PhD programme
- Supervisors, PhD programme leaders and leaders of CDTs and DTPs in a STEM field (online focus group with a potential follow-up interview only).
Please see Martingale’s website for further information and to express your interest.
Martingale will be releasing a report of the findings in autumn 2025.
The findings from this research will help inform Martingale’s work supporting Scholars as part of the PhD Leadership Programme and in understanding how best to support Scholars on their PhD journey. We hope that other organisations and institutions who support PhD students will find the report useful for their own work.
This research project features as part of Martingale’s commitment to creating opportunities and driving positive change. Stay informed about our work and the impact we’re making on in our newsletter.
