Aunam supports the research team across various projects. She completed her ESRC funded PhD in Education at the University of Sheffield in 2021 and has a range of research experience in issues related to curriculum and pedagogy, widening participation, and social justice. Prior to this, Aunam worked within the FE sector in Manchester and has experience of teaching in higher education.
Research projects
Current
- Degree Apprenticeships in England December 2021 – December 2022
- Joint Dialogue phase 2 – pupils understanding of employability skills
Externally funded completed research projects
- Exploring the role of new technology and machine learning in Children’s Social Care, Behavioural Insights Unit; Department for Education, 2020. Funded by UKRI Policy Internship Scheme.
- Exploring engagement with Greater Manchester Higher by Further Education College learners 2019. Funded by Greater Manchester Higher.
- Understanding the under-representation of BME students in Arts and Humanities in higher education, 2018-19. Funded by Equality Challenge Unit.
Other professional engagement/activities
- Research and Evaluation Consultant, Applied Inspiration (2020).
Research project examining disparities in degree outcomes, uptake of work placements and student retention along measures of ethnicity and multiple deprivation at a higher education institution, and developing a toolkit of interventions.
Publications and Reports
- Quyoum, A (2021) An exploration of British values and the school curriculum: making space for counter-knowledge. PhD thesis, University of Sheffield.
- Edge Foundation (2021) ‘Skills shortages in AI’ in Skills shortages in the UK economy, Bulletin 9, October.
- Quyoum, A, Hordósy, R, Mittelmeier, J, Jones, S and McCaldin, T. (2021) Career Decisions of Further Education College Students: Where Does Higher Education 'Fit In'? Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning, 23 (1) pp.54-78.
- Jones, S, Mittelmeier, J, Hordósy, R, Quyoum, A and McCaldin, T. (2021) ‘Possible Selves’ in practice: how students at Further Education Colleges in England conceptualise university, Research Papers in Education (RRED), DOI: 10.1080/02671522.2020.18647
- Hordósy, R, Mittelmeier, J, Jones, S, Quyoum, A and McCaldin, T (July 2019) Exploring engagement with Greater Manchester Higher by Further Education College learners: Final report, University of Manchester.
- Miller, M, Quyoum, A, Duyvenbode, R. V and Kitchen, W. (2019) Equality Challenge Unit project report: Understanding the experiences of BME students in Arts and Humanities, University of Sheffield.
- Quyoum, A and Powell, S. (2016) BME Attainment Gap Project: Report, Widening Participation Research and Evaluation Unit, University of Sheffield.
Selected conference presentations
- American Education Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, April 2020 – Cancelled: Unleashing ‘Possible Selves’: how college students in England conceptualize university, with Jenna Mittelmeier; Rita Hordósy, Steve Jones and Tamsin McCaldin.
- British Educational Research Association (BERA), September 2019: Co-constructing a critical curriculum using 'funds of knowledge' in schools: connecting research theory to classroom realities.
- Society for Research in Higher Education (SRHE), December 2018: How do students respond to institutional labels around widening participation and equality and diversity?
- European Conference for Educational Research (ECER), September 2018: Migration, refugee and British values in the 21st century: an interdisciplinary response for a critical, global curriculum.
- BERA, Higher Education symposium, September 2017: ‘Academic Engagement and Transition in and Through Higher Education for 'Widening Participation' Students: Institutional evidence from the whole student lifecycle’.
