Power dynamics in supervision

In this video, Julie Cheung presents an interactive workshop which explores the concept of Allyship: what it means, why it matters, and how each of us can play an active role in creating more equitable and inclusive workplaces. 

This blog post exploring working with one’s supervisor was written as a portion of the Yorkshire Consortium for Equity in Doctoral Education (YCEDE), one of the 13 Research England-funded projects focused on racial equity and widening access to postgraduate education.

In this blog, Professor Paul Wakeling and Dr Bukola Oyinloye (University of York) set out the challenges to racial equity in UK doctoral admissions. They argue that how and who we select for entry to PhD degrees is a critical part of achieving a more racially just and successful research sector and outline what the Yorkshire Consortium for Equity in Doctoral Education (YCEDE) is doing to address this.

The In2research programme is one of 13 projects funded by Research England and the Office for Students to address widening participation in and improve access to doctoral research.

This report addresses doctoral selection processes was developed by Yorkshire Consortium for Equity in Doctoral Education (YCEDE), one of the 13 Research England-funded projects focused on racial equity and widening access to postgraduate education.

This guidance document was developed by Yorkshire Consortium for Equity in Doctoral Education (YCEDE) and YCEDE’s Scholars Board, in order to outline their expectations of YCEDE and YCEDE attendees at events. 

Presented by Generation Delta, these training resources emerged directly from the Workshops organised by this project and held around the country between 2022 and 2025 to understand and enhance the experience of racially minoritised women students at the postgraduate research level. They are designed with the needs of these women in mind, but we hope they will help all those wishing to pursue a research career in higher education.

In 2019, Leading Routes: ​“The Broken Pipeline – Barriers to Black PhD Students Accessing Research Council Funding” report highlighted significant barriers faced by Black PhD students in accessing research council funding in the UK. Five years later, it’s important to reflect on the progress made and identify areas where challenges still persist. This resource by YCEDE provides an overview of some of the developments and ongoing challenges from across the sector.

Doctoral education sits at the point of connection between work to drive equality of opportunity in access and success in undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes, and efforts to create a fairer, more open and inclusive research culture and community which is more representative of wider UK society.

The Postgraduate Researcher Competency-Based Admissions Framework has been developed as part of the Equity in Doctoral Education through Partnership and Innovation (EDEPI) project, led by Nottingham Trent University in collaboration with Liverpool John Moores and Sheffield Hallam Universities.