Researcher (Freelance), WIRED, Yorkshire Sound Women Network

Contract Profile
Researcher, WIRED
Yorkshire Sound Women Network
Role: Researcher (Freelance)
Contract: 20 days, between December 2022 – September 2023
Fee: £300 per day; total fee £6,000
Reports to: WIRED Coordinator
Location: Home-based

Yorkshire Sound Women Network (YSWN) is seeking an experienced researcher to support advocacy and workforce development activities around gender inclusion and young people’s music technology education.
YSWN enables the artistic and technical development of women and people of minority genders through access to resources, skills-sharing, and creative opportunities. Our work has two key areas: education and community activities that inspire and enable women, girls and people of minority genders to explore music technology, and industry-facing advocacy activities. For more information about the organisation see our most recent Annual Review: https://buff.ly/3Ub9lFq.
WIRED is a 3-year participatory music technology programme taking place across Yorkshire, funded by Youth Music. WIRED combines face-to-face and online activities, enabling participants to develop creative music technology skills alongside expert music leaders. WIRED includes a research, advocacy and workforce development programme designed to mitigate against unconscious gender bias in music education.

Contract Brief
• Undertake a literature review of existing research and identify baseline data on gender and music technology in education.
• Design and undertake a small-scale, discrete research project to gain further insights into the current experiences and practices of participants and/or music educators. The methodology should be determined by the researcher and agreed with YSWN. It may include surveys, interviews and/or observations of workshops. We are keen to capture a breadth of experiences from educators and workshop facilitators working across a variety of classroom and community settings in order to understand how children and young people are supported in the music technology environment what and tools/strategies are successful in creating an inclusive environment.
• Liaise with YSWN co-founder and co-director Dr Eddie Dobson as needed, which may include drawing on existing publications and resources such as Permission to Play: Practice principles for collaborative learning in music technology.
• Adhere to appropriate ethical guidelines, such as those published by the British Educational Research Association.
• Analyse and interpret the above findings.
• Use this learning to write a Toolkit of recommendations and practical strategies for creating gender inclusive learning environments in music technology, to be disseminated amongst the music education sector nationally and used as a resource in YSWN workforce development training sessions.
• Liaise with YSWN staff on the design and production of the final Toolkit (to be coordinated by YSWN staff).
• Contribute to a book chapter, to be co-authored with Dr Eddie Dobson, informed by the above findings.
Key Knowledge, Skills and Experience
Applicants should have:
• An established track record of conducting social research
• Knowledge of and experience in a using qualitative research methodologies and associated methods such as interviews and focus groups, and knowledge of and experience analysing qualitative data
• A relevant Masters degree, PhD degree or equivalent experience demonstrable through a portfolio of work (for example industry or government-facing research)
• Understanding of the music education and/or community music sectors
• Excellent analytical and report writing skills
• Demonstrable research commitment to inclusion, equality and diversity
• Knowledge of issues affecting women and people of minority genders within music/music technology
• Commitment to YSWN’s mission and values
• Ability to work collaboratively and flexibly with the YSWN team

How to apply
A full brief for this role can be downloaded from the website: buff.ly/3RWHQxG or requested by emailing info@yorkshiresoundwomen.com.
YSWN welcomes applications from candidates of all backgrounds, all genders, age groups and cultures, particularly people of colour and those living with disabilities, and is committed to promoting and increasing diversity within the organisation’s governance, workforce and beneficiaries. You can read our Equality, Diversity & Safer Spaces Policy at: https://yorkshiresoundwomen.com/policies/.

The Researcher will be engaged on the basis that they have the status of a self-employed person and are responsible for all their own tax liabilities and National
Insurance or similar contributions. Candidates will also need to provide evidence that they are eligible to work in the UK.
Closing date for applications: Friday 14th October 2022 at 5pm
Date for interviews (online): Thursday 17th November
This contract is funded by the National Foundation for Youth Music.

For more information visit https://yorkshiresoundwomen.com/news/new-opportunity-wired-researcher/