The LSE ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership is pleased to offer the following Collaborative Studentship, commencing in September 2026:
Project Title: Understanding the Health Effects of Trade Unions
Collaborative Partner: Trades Union Congress
LSE Department: Department of Sociology
Studentship Lead: Professor Aaron Reeves (A.S.Reeves@lse.ac.uk)
Project Description: Who benefits from union membership? Trade unions potentially enhance well-being through improving wages and working conditions, but whether unions can deliver better well-being depends on their institutional strength and, crucially, on whose interests they prioritise; both of which have changed in recent decades. On the one hand, the well-being benefits of union membership may have declined together with union power. On the other, the well-being benefits of unions for some groups, such as women of colour, may have increased because of their improved position within the union movement and workplaces more generally.
This project will study the intersectional impact of unions in the UK from the 1980s to today and in so doing will produce timely evidence on whether trade unions impact intersectional inequalities in well-being. This project will try to disentangle these competing trends, using an innovative, multi-method approach. The project would involve both quantitative and qualitative analysis, examining data sets like the Labour Force Survey and conducting interview. Unions in Britain are more salient today than they have been at any time since the 1980s, an important reminder of the role unions could possibly play in addressing inequalities in well-being now and in the future.
Length of studentship:The studentship will commence in September 2026, with a duration of 3.5 years.
Value of studentship: LSE ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership Collaborative Studentships cover full fees and an annual stipend. The stipend per year for 2025/26 entry was £22,780
Candidate Requirements: Candidates must have already completed an MSc or MPhil in a related subject (e.g. Sociology, Social Policy, Public Health) and have experience of quantitative methods (such as multivariate regression) gained through study or working experience. Ideally, candidates will have experience using longitudinal data.
Application process: Suitably qualified candidates should make an application via MPhil/PhD Sociology.
Instead of submitting a research proposal, you should clearly cite the Collaborative Studentship project title and outline your suitability for the Studentship within the 'statement of academic purpose' section of your application, directly addressing the project description above. Please note this will only constitute an application for admission for the Collaborative Studentship.
If you would also like to be considered for general admission to this programme, please include a separate research proposal which meets the criteria for this programme, as set out on the programme page.
Deadline for applications: 10 December 2025
Enquiries regarding the application process should directed to Pam Rolfe, Deputy Head of Scholarships and Financial Support (p.rolfe@lse.ac.uk)