Professor Jo Edson Ferrie
- Professor of Sociology (Sociological & Cultural Studies)
telephone:
01413303175
email:
Jo.Ferrie@glasgow.ac.uk
pronouns:
She/her/hers
R1001, Adam Smith Building, Glasgow G12 8RT
Biography
I am dedicated to the enhancement of learning and teaching principally through improving access to methods and skill training. I am known for my contribution to, and informing and influencing Academic Practice. Specifically, how do we create better learning experiences to help students and colleagues 'do' research and knowledge exchange work. I was appointed Associate Dean of Skill and Method in 2023 and hold the award of Principal Fellow of RET, recognised for Excellence in Teaching.
I publish around better methods teaching and the realisation of human rights through partcipatory methodologies and budgets.
I have worked at Glasgow since 2011, completing my PhD in the Centre for Disability Research in 2008.
Research interests
I contribute two significant bodies of work.
First: I am known for my teaching, and influence on teaching of research methods. I have pioneered in the teaching of research methods at the University of Glasgow as founding Director of Glasgow Q-Step. With major investment from the Nuffield Foundation and the Economic and Social Research Council, I have led a team of quantitative educators to create 6 degrees in the School of Social & Political Sciences; embedding of numerate data skills in the MEduc in the School of Education. As Director I pioneered our experiential learning portfolio, delivering more than 30 internships, generating more than 8 years of research investment into the Scottish Economy working with civil and policy partners.
As Deputy Director for Training, I delivered a significant, national leadership role with the Scottish Graduate School of Social Sciences. I have delivered a training vision that meets student's needs and an evidence base of training needs data shared across the Doctoral Training Partnership of 16 universities. During my secondment I quadrupled the training delivered, set up new interdisciplinary initiatives with DTPs in arts, humanities and computing science and delivered new policies to pay post-graduate and early-career scholars for the outstanding training they facilitate. I have published on the skills graduate students need to be academy-ready and industry-ready. Working with the ESRC and Technopolis I have influenced the future of data-driven skills, re-imagining how research skills should be taught to produce confident students able to demonstrate the rigour of their work. Our 2022 report has impacted underpinning the ESRC's 2022 Post-graduate Training & Development Guidelines and supporting creation of a £2.4million pot to develop methods training across the UK.
I am interested in how we teach methods better, how we embed research integrity into our training, particularly pertaining to qualitative methods, and how we build confident researchers. I am able to pursue this agenda for Glasgow through my appointment as Associate Dean for Skill and Method. As well as designing core postgraduate training provision, I have launched a university-wide specialist methods and training intitaitve of short courses designed for post-graduate students. As part of the Curricula 4 Life body of work, I am creating new courses for our general degrees that enhance skill development and focus on susatainability and the Sustainable Development Goals to ensure students havbuild on disciplinary kowledges towards interdisciplinary team-working and solution-focused learnings.
Second: I have a sustained track record of working with external organisations to foster knowledge exchange and impact, particularly around human rights and disability rights. I serve on the Research Advisory Group of the Scottish Human Rights Commission and sit on their Human Rights Budgeting Group. I have been invited to Scottish Government roundtables to discuss how to move work in this field forward. I am Chair of the Board of Trustees for Making Rights real, a new charity in Scotland working with community organisations. I have collaborated to secure funding from Corra and the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. I have published on how to progress human rights in Scotland. I have worked with Close the Gap, the Health and Social Care ALLIANCE Scotland, with Inclusion Scotland and Just Fair with the Social Rights Alliance England to better understand academic practice in the field of knowledge exchange. With Dr Kiril Sharapov (Napier) and thanks to UKRI/GCRF funding, I have delivered training to disability-led civil organisations, and academics at the National Academy of Sciences in Ukraine to help them train researchers in using human rights based approaches to research. This work has been translated into Ukrainian and Ukrainian sign language.
Grants
'The impact of Covid-19 on Persons with Disabilities in Ukraine with a Particular Focus on Internally Displaced Persons with Disabilities. AHRC/GCRF PI Dr Kiril Sharapov Napier. I am Co-I (Dates 01.02.2021-30.12.21)
'Scoping the skills needs in the social sciences to support data-driven research’ funded by ESRC & UKRI. With Technopolis Group, JF is Senior Expert Lead on Work Package 3: Examination of Doctoral Interventions. (Dates 01.09.2020-30.06.2021 Value £98,475 percentage 8.5% = £8,400
Glasgow QStep Centre Transitional Funding 2019-21 by Nuffield Foundation and ESRC PI Jo Ferrie (Dates 01/102019-30/09/2021 Value £123,939.86 percentage 80% = £99,151.89)
Glasgow QStep Centre by Nuffield Foundation, ESRC & HEFCE PI: Jo Ferrie (Dates: 01/10/2013-30/09/2019 Value: £1,440,683.80 percentage 60% =£864,410.28)
2 ESRC Collaborative Studentships as first supervisor (2016/17; 2018/19 = £179,408)
1 ESRC Advanced Quantitative Methods as first supervisor (2019/20 = £89,704)
Exploring the Impact of the Pandemic on Internally Displaced People with Disabilities in Ukraine GCRF/UKRI with AHRC PI: Kiril Sharapov University of Napier, Edinburgh (Dates 01.02.21-01.08.21 value £91,861)
Building a Future for MND by MND Scotland PI: Suvankar Pal, University of Edinburgh (Dates: 01/10/15 – 30/12/18 value £300,000 percentage 7% = £20,000)
Speak Unique by Chief Scientist Office PI: Phillipa Rewaj, University of Edinburgh (Dates 01/04/16 – 31/03/18 value £100,000 percentage 15% = £15,000)
Evaluation of Scotland’s National Action Plan by Scottish Human Rights Commission. PI: Jo Ferrie (Dates 01.10.17-31.10.18 value £30,000 percentage 100%).
Living with Motor Neurone Disease by MND Scotland PI: Nick Watson (Dates: 01/10/2010-30/04/2013 Value: £110,926 Percentage: 50.0% = £55,463)
Applied Quantitative Methods Network: Phase II (AQMeN 2) by ESRC (Dates: 01/01/2013-31/12/2016 Value: £603,250 Percentage: 0.0%)
3rd Sector Approaches to Bridging the Distance from Employment Market for People with Multiple and Complex needs. (Dates: 01/08/2010-30/06/2011 Value: £7,978 Percentage: 0.0%)
Attrition, Retention and Access: An Examination of the University of Glasgow’s Access Programme for Non-Traditional Students and Factors that Enhance Retention. Learning and Teaching Development Fund. PI: Ferrie, J. (Dates 01/02/2010-31/07/2010) Value: £27, 773 Percentage 100%
Supervision
I am currently working with a range of talented scholars engaged in research around equality and human rights.
Kirstie English, Michelle Jamieson, Karim Mitha, Paul Pearons, Arran Edwards, Riya Bisht.
- Bisht, Riya Pramod
Complex mental health workplace biographies as a liminal experience: Exploring the case of organizational disclosure
Delighted to see Alejandro Rubio Arnal, Sam Lawton, Coling Young, Karen Young, Simona Simona, YuanYuan Qu and Fatimah Alansar graduate with their PhDs and enter first-choice career paths.
Teaching
Teaching past/present:
Undergraduate
- Quantiative Methods 2012- 2018
- Contribution to Sociology Level 1 - Methods 101
- From 2021 Contribution to Sociology Level 2 - Social Data
- Contribution to Honours Qualitative Research Methods
Graduate School
- Contribution to Research Design PGT
- Contribution to Qualitative Methods PGT and PGR
- Advanced Qualitative Methods
- Masters: Social Research Methods 2009-13 - Masters level
- Social Theory for Researchers - Postgraduate
- Social Science Statistics 1 - Postgraduate
- Contribution to Introduction to Social Research Methods for Researchers
Plus Contribution to MEd Academic Practice
Additional information
Other roles
- Founding Director Q-Step University of Glasgow
- Former Deputy Director - Training: Scottish Graduate School of Social Science
- Co-Convenor Equalities and Diversity Cluster, Glasgow Human Rights Network
- Senior Advisor of Studies College of Social Science