Lancaster University Strategic ISPF Fund:  £19,354

Funding was received to host a 2 day early career researcher (ECR) workshop in Malawi and Ghana on the theme 'Inequality and Marginalisation: Multidisciplinary Perspectives from African Researchers'. 

In summary:  Inequality and marginalisation (I&M), and measures to combat the socio-economic implications of these issues are pressing national and international policy concerns in the Global South. Although I&M pose imminent and dire implications for equal access to opportunities, income distribution, employment, education and health access, they remain largely under-studied from a multi-disciplinary perspective. The absence of multi-disciplinary studies is a barrier to advancing broader research agendas and implementing more tailored responses. African ECRs are core to generating and facilitating impactful research that can combat I&M in Africa. Yet, there is a general lack of research published and a failure to secure grants (McAlpine et al. 2020; Shinkafi, 2020). Anecdotal evidence from the University of Livingstonia (Malawi) found that ECRs are concerned about limited publishing skills, capacity building in quality research design/dissemination of results, and grant proposal writing. Empowering ECRs is critical to ensuring that research projects are contextually suitable for African countries.

Our multidisciplinary workshop is set to convene cutting-edge research to advance African research on I&M that is nuanced, rigorous and innovative. Primarily, it will address the capacity deficit of ECRs by providing support through a call for papers, peer/mentor feedback, grant application guidance, and coaching on publication outlets. Our workshops will strengthen the research capacity of participants in Malawi and Ghana to contribute to reframing Africa’s strategy towards attaining the sustainable development goals in a research-led manner (Jørgensen et al. 2019). Additionally, the workshops will enable ECRs to develop regional and international networks, improve stakeholder engagement strategies, and facilitate knowledge exchange. Furthermore, the workshop will promote organic/equitable funding collaboration between LU staff and our African partners.