ESRC Collaborative (CASE) +3 year PhD Studentship


    Collective trade union organisation among professional and
    white-collar managerial workers




We invite applications from potential UK/EU research students who have a
good Masters qualification and meet the eligibility criteria for ESRC
doctoral funding. Suitably qualified candidates from a wide range of
social science disciplines - including geography, sociology, politics,
anthropology, management and economics - are encouraged to apply.

ESRC meets the tuition fees and pays a basic (tax free) maintenance
grant of £17,290 p.a. The collaborating organisation pays an additional
£2,000 p.a.

The research will analyse the nature of collective organisation among
professional and white-collar managerial workers. Over the last 10 years
there has been considerable interest in approaches to understanding
collectivisation among different groups of workers and whilst there has
been research on this topic among low-paid and migrant workers, there is
an omission when it comes to looking at white collar managerial grades
and professional workers. This is despite the fact that both in the UK
and the US there has been an increase in the unionisation of
professional and managerial workers.

The studentship will aim to help fill this gap by asking such questions
as: Why is it that jobs or occupations that are characterised as
individualised are perceived to have little in the way of a collective
spirit have comparatively high trade union densities? Why have
professional and managerial unions been successful in increasing
membership among managerial staff? What are the factors that cause these
groups of workers to cohere?

To answer these, the research will be conducted through three case
studies of professional and managerial trade unions chosen to provide a
contrast between workers who are categorised as 'managerial and
professional' but who perform sufficiently different jobs to draw out a
range of factors influencing the individual decision to collectivise.
The three unions collaborating on this project are the Transport
Salaried Staffs' Association, Nautilus UK and Prospect.

A CV, letter of application (making a case why you should be appointed)
and the names of two referees, should be sent to Dr. Jane Holgate,
Working Lives Research Institute, London Metropolitan University, 31
Jewry Street, London EC3N 2EY by Friday 15 June 2009 and short-listed
candidates will be interviewed in the week beginning 9 July. The
successful candidate will be expected to take up the studentship on 1
October

All nominees must satisfy the ESRC’s academic and residential
eligibility requirements which can be downloaded from:

www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/Images/GUIDANCE MARK
2_tcm6-7186.pdf
<http://www.workinglives.org/teaching-and-research/www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/Images/GUIDANCE%20MARK%202_tcm6-7186.pdf>



You can also download (word.doc) an outline of the project below:

<http://www.workinglives.org/londonmet/library/t15988_24.doc>         ESRC CASE
outline <http://www.workinglives.org/londonmet/library/t15988_24.doc>

http://www.workinglives.org/londonmet/library/t15988_24.doc

For informal discussion and further details about the project, contact
Dr Jane Holgate
<http://www.workinglives.org/londonmet/index.cfm?CB8243B3-94E3-CC28-9B5D-05F2C23C5996>,

07960 798399 j.holgate@londonmet.ac.uk
<mailto:j.holgate@londonmet.ac.uk?subject=ESRC%20CASE%20PhD%20studentship>

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Max Watson, Research Administrator
Working Lives Research Institute (WLRI)
London Metropolitan University,
31 Jewry Street,
London EC3N 2EY
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Tel: +44 (0) 20 7320 3010
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7320 3032
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Email: M.Watson@londonmet.ac.uk
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http://www.workinglives.org/staff/current-staff/max-watson.cfm
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