After three years of studying theoretical academic concepts from journal articles and hefty textbooks throughout an undergraduate degree in psychology and sociology, the question of what’s next became apparent. With a passion for the constant accumulation of knowledge, I turned to the world of research. Before committing at least another four years of my life to masters and PhDs, I felt a job in a research position may be the next logical step. However, this was not as straightforward as it may sound. As I found, to get experience it was crucial to already have experience.
That is where the Children’s Social Care Research and Development Centre (CASCADE) came into the equation, offering me an opportunity to experience a research centre in multiple ways and draw on prior knowledge from volunteering with young people. While the beginning of any new job is always nerve-wracking, the run up to the start of my placement was fraught with thoughts of what to expect and the realisation I would be surrounded by academics I had admired from afar throughout my degree. All concerns quickly dissipated after starting my first day, where I was greeted with kindness in what otherwise would have been a very overwhelming situation. Upon quickly meeting many members of CASCADE across various teams, I realised the office was a very sociable space enabling easy collaboration amongst colleagues that I had yet to see in other professional environments.
While at CASCADE, I was fortunate enough to engage in many aspects of professional research within the centre. The centre’s 10-year anniversary occurred during my time on placement, granting me access to the behind-the-scenes orchestration of a large-scale celebratory event by the Professional Services and Public Involvement teams. These teams highlighted to me the importance of engagement with research. Without the experience of this placement, I struggled to grasp the reduced impact research would have without teams increasing its dissemination. They also enable an increase in the quality of research produced – for example, through the involvement of people with lived experiences, which can be seen in the CASCADE Voices group. The value of these teams was further highlighted at the monthly CASCADE-wide centre meeting I attended, where the success of the 10-year anniversary event was discussed as well as plans for current and potential future research projects.
Alongside this, I attended workshops to help me develop my writing abilities, as well as seminars covering a range of topics. These included discussions surrounding the use of creative methods in research with foster care children to improve participant engagement and the adaptation of such methods to the foster care system more widely as a result. This highlighted the practical impact the research at CASCADE has, which was again shown in the webinar I attended pertaining to research reflecting on the disproportionately high rates of school exclusions experienced by minority ethnic pupils in Wales and the subsequent recommendations made to improve this unfair disparity long-term. Other meetings also included discussions of research relating to children and young people at risk in society, linking to the project I worked on in CASCADE under my supervisor Dr Phil Smith. I have conducted qualitative analysis on transcript data of staff from Pupil Referral Units discussing students’ post-16 transitions, providing a chance to improve my knowledge of research and skills more practically.
My research placement has been invaluable. Not only has it given me vital experience in a competitive field, but it has also given me insight into aspects of research I knew little about previously and has given me the confidence to hopefully pursue a career in research further. If given the chance to undertake work experience or more generally participate in CASCADE, I would encourage everyone to take that opportunity with both hands.
Written by Lily Barry