Outputs (93)

Understanding work and study demands of degree apprentices using Conservation of Resources Theory (2025)
Journal Article
Smith, S., Taylor-Smith, E., Bratton, A., & Dutton, M. (2025). Understanding work and study demands of degree apprentices using Conservation of Resources Theory. Empirical Research in Vocational Education and Training, 17(1), Article 14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40461-025-00189-1

Degree apprenticeships are a recent innovation in the UK. The overarching goal of the apprenticeship is to achieve a degree, while working and advancing careers. This involves apprentices and employing organisations investing in resources including w... Read More about Understanding work and study demands of degree apprentices using Conservation of Resources Theory.

Activity theory analysis of training for workplace mentors in apprenticeship degrees (2024)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Taylor-Smith, E., & Smith, S. (2024, December). Activity theory analysis of training for workplace mentors in apprenticeship degrees. Paper presented at International Conference of the Society of Research into Higher Education, Nottingham, UK

Apprenticeship degrees bring the radical possibility of higher education without debt. They also require taking learning off-campus and into the workplace, collaborating with employers on credit-bearing workplace learning, inclusion, and widening acc... Read More about Activity theory analysis of training for workplace mentors in apprenticeship degrees.

Resisting the gendered categorisation of Computing and Engineering (2024)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Taylor-Smith, E., & Smith, S. (2024, December). Resisting the gendered categorisation of Computing and Engineering. Paper presented at 2024 SRHE International Research Conference, Nottingham, UK

As information infrastructures increasingly shape decisions that affect us, especially through the undertow of artificial intelligence, it is essential that women and gender minorities are well-represented across computing and engineering. However, t... Read More about Resisting the gendered categorisation of Computing and Engineering.

Workplace Mentor Training for Inclusion: Training resources for work-based learning mentors (2024)
Digital Artefact
Taylor-Smith, E., Smith, S., Cecil, M., & Scott, A. (2024). Workplace Mentor Training for Inclusion: Training resources for work-based learning mentors. [Blog]

This is a resource for work-based learning mentors, with a special focus on mentoring for inclusion, featuring Key Elements of Inclusion for Mentors infographic and Intro to Inclusion animation.

It grew out of a collaborative research project betw... Read More about Workplace Mentor Training for Inclusion: Training resources for work-based learning mentors.

Being in Two Places at the Same Time: a Future for Hybrid Learning Based on Student Preferences (2024)
Journal Article
Fabian, K., Smith, S., & Taylor-Smith, E. (2024). Being in Two Places at the Same Time: a Future for Hybrid Learning Based on Student Preferences. TechTrends, 68(4), 693-704. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-024-00974-x

The Covid-19 pandemic moved focus from face-to-face learning to hybrid in Higher Education; many educators did not have previous experience of this mode prior to this shift in learning locations. One form of hybrid learning is “synchronous hybrid lea... Read More about Being in Two Places at the Same Time: a Future for Hybrid Learning Based on Student Preferences.

Job-seeking narratives: in search of graduate capitals acquired during student placements (2024)
Journal Article
Smith, S., & Smith, C. (2024). Job-seeking narratives: in search of graduate capitals acquired during student placements. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 45(3), 402-419. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2024.2328125

Being a graduate is no longer sufficient to secure a fulfilling and rewarding graduate role. This paper drew on Tomlinson’s Graduate Capital Model to analyse the job-seeking narratives of recent computing graduates searching for a graduate job. Parti... Read More about Job-seeking narratives: in search of graduate capitals acquired during student placements.

Investing in degree apprenticeships: Analysing experiences through Conservation of Resources Theory (2023)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Taylor-Smith, E., Smith, S., & Bratton, A. (2023, December). Investing in degree apprenticeships: Analysing experiences through Conservation of Resources Theory. Presented at 2023 SRHE International Research Conference, Birmingham, UK

Degree apprentices have reported finding work-life-study balance challenging. This study uses the Theory of Conservation of Resources (COR) to investigate the resources invested and gained by apprentices in the achievement of their goal of a degree w... Read More about Investing in degree apprenticeships: Analysing experiences through Conservation of Resources Theory.

Students’ gendered experiences of male-dominated Computing and Engineering courses (2023)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Taylor-Smith, E., Smith, S., & Fabian, K. (2023, December). Students’ gendered experiences of male-dominated Computing and Engineering courses. Presented at 2023 SRHE International Research Conference, Birmingham, UK

How does it feel to be in a gender minority on a STEM programme? Does it have an impact on individual students? Via an online survey (n=255), undergraduate students on Computing and Engineering programmes were asked whether they felt that gender had... Read More about Students’ gendered experiences of male-dominated Computing and Engineering courses.

Disparities in work-integrated learning experiences for students who present as women: an international study of biases, barriers, and challenges (2023)
Journal Article
Bowen, T., Drysdale, M. T., Callaghan, S., Smith, S., Johansson, K., Smith, C., Walsh, B., & Berg, T. (2024). Disparities in work-integrated learning experiences for students who present as women: an international study of biases, barriers, and challenges. Higher Education, Skills and Work-based Learning, 14(2), 313-328. https://doi.org/10.1108/HESWBL-05-2023-0115

Purpose
This study identifies gendered disparities among women students participating in work-integrated learning and explores the effects of the disparities on their perceptions on perceived opportunities, competencies, sense of belonging, and prof... Read More about Disparities in work-integrated learning experiences for students who present as women: an international study of biases, barriers, and challenges.

‘They gave me an opportunity, and I took it’: motivations and concerns of adult apprentices (2023)
Journal Article
Smith, S., Fabian, K., Taylor-Smith, E., Barr, M., Berg, T., Bratton, A., Kolberg, M., Paterson, J., & Zarb, M. (2025). ‘They gave me an opportunity, and I took it’: motivations and concerns of adult apprentices. Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 77(2), 465-483. https://doi.org/10.1080/13636820.2023.2255576

In the UK context of an ageing population, degree apprenticeships represent a new opportunity to study for a degree while working. Apprentices are full-time employees granted time to study for a degree with a significant workplace learning component.... Read More about ‘They gave me an opportunity, and I took it’: motivations and concerns of adult apprentices.