The funding landscape in UK higher education has grown ever more competitive over the last decade, with success rates for many schemes falling below 10%. Given universities continue to link promotion (in part) to grant success, this has created something of a bottleneck for many scholars seeking to progress. It is always an extremely happy day for any academic, therefore, when (after many failures/rejections) you are awarded a grant to fund research activities that you are passionate about. In February 2025 my University of Sheffield colleagues, Prof. Rachael Finn and Dr. Stephen Allen, and I were awarded a White Rose Doctoral Training Partnership Collaborative Grant worth around £90k. The grant pays for a student to conduct a project over 3-and-a-half years at the management school under our supervision. It is an especially nice award as it is a project I collaboratively began developing with a local employee-owned organization, Gripple/GLIDE, back in April 2024 and it was a real joy to create it through a review process with my co-applicants. The following text below is the advert for the studentship which will be open until March 17th 2025, so if you are eligible and interested please consider applying:
Project title: Developing a Democratic Culture of Voice and Participation for Employee-owned Businesses (EOBs): A Critical Action Research Approach
This exciting research opportunity will contribute to developing an effective and sustainable model of democratic culture of voice and participation for Employee-Owned Businesses (EOBs). It will take the form of a collaborative doctorate which will involve working with scholars at Sheffield University Management School and GLIDE – a group of EOBs located in Sheffield, UK. Through a critical action research approach that involves working with employees within two selected members of GLIDE you will co-design methods (interview questions, surveys, observation) and interventions (e.g. an EOB “voice” program) that enable a deeper understanding of the possibilities and tensions of developing a democratic culture in EOBs. The findings will have transferable lessons across the EOB sector, driving sustainable economic growth and productivity in a way that prioritises the health and well-being of employees. The project thus responds to calls for an interventionist and engaged approach within management studies whilst exploring democratic working practices that have the potential to transform working relationships by shifting ownership and control into the hands of workers, creating opportunities for them to learn to negotiate power and voice.
The project is driven by three research questions:
1. How do EOB members cultivate and sustain democratic cultures of participation and voice
for their employees and what challenges do they face in doing so?
2. What interventions might work within EOBs to overcome these challenges to further
develop democratic culture?
3. What are the wider lessons and implications for EOB practice and policy?
We are looking for outstanding candidates committed to democratic organizing and fairness within the workplace. Experience and expertise within (or in conducting research upon or with) EOBs, democratic or alternative organizations broadly conceived, and action research are all desirable, but not essential to the candidate. A bespoke training programme will be developed in collaboration with GLIDE. We particularly welcome applicants from the Employee Ownership sector who might also wish to consider conducting the doctorate on a part-time basis.
The successful applicant will be supervised by Dr Martyn Griffin, Prof Rachael Finn and Dr Stephen Allen (University of Sheffield) with Ed Stubbs (Group Managing Director of Gripple) acting as the central link at the collaborating organization, GLIDE.
To ensure all students acquire the core research skills necessary to undertake a doctoral project, the structure and duration of the WRDTP’s awards depend on the applicant’s previous academic experience, and any social science research training or experience already undertaken. Award types are:
+3.5 programme: funding for a 3.5-year PhD. Typically, applicants with a social science Masters’s degree and with 60 or more credits of M-level social science research training are suited to this route.
Entry requirements and application details are listed here.
Funding amounts covers tuition fees (home and international), annual stipend at the UKRI rate (this is £20,780 for 2025/26).
Citing the title of the studentship, applicants should also upload the following:
A one-page personal statement explaining how your skills, experiences, interests and career plans make you a suitable candidate.
A 500-word statement explaining why this research is important.
Deadline for application is 17th March. Interviews will take place in Sheffield w/c 24th March.
Informal enquiries can be made to Dr. Martyn Griffin (m.a.griffin@sheffield.ac.uk) who is happy to discuss the project and/or the application process with candidates.
To apply and to read more information please visit the Sheffield University Management School Studentships Page
