“The same but different: researching and enhancing PGR employability and experience in Art & Design”

Authors

  • Jacqueline Taylor Birmingham City University
  • Sian Vaughan Birmingham City University

Keywords:

employability, student experience, mentoring, PGR

Abstract

We present and discuss two related projects at Birmingham City University undertaken by the same staff-student partnership: the first a research project to understand the aspirations and motivations of our PGRs; the second, informed by the first, a pilot project to enhance the PGR experience through peer mentoring. The complexity of Art & Design PGR identity and their nuanced professional aspirations means that our PGRs are an extremely individualised group who cannot easily be categorised. The challenge is in enabling individualised provision within a supportive cohort environment. We critically reflect on the significance and impact of each of these projects as having been undertaken through the framework of a staff-student partnership, drawing on our own and our PGRs’ experiences more generally as being the same yet different and individual.

 

Author Biographies

Jacqueline Taylor, Birmingham City University

Dr Jacqueline Taylor is an artist, writer, researcher and lecturer. She completed a PhD at Birmingham City University (2013) examining the interrelation of painting and writing, and issues surrounding Fine Art research practice. She continues this research alongside an emerging focus on creative identity in Art & Design doctoral study.

Sian Vaughan, Birmingham City University

Dr Sian Vaughan is Senior Research Fellow and Keeper of Archives at Birmingham City University. An art historian by training, her research interests concern the interpretation and mediation of engagement with contemporary art, and more recently the Art & Design doctoral experience. 

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Journal of Educational Innovation, Partnership and Change

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Published

07/31/2015

How to Cite

Taylor, J., & Vaughan, S. (2015). “The same but different: researching and enhancing PGR employability and experience in Art & Design”. The Journal of Educational Innovation, Partnership and Change, 1(2). Retrieved from https://journals.studentengagement.org.uk/index.php/studentchangeagents/article/view/198

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 2 (2015)

Section

Case Study

License

Copyright is held by the journal. The author has full permission to publish to their institutional repository. Articles are published under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence.