Opportunities to write your MA thesis in an international research project

The overall aim of the EUROSHIP project is to provide an original and gender-sensitive assessment of the current gaps in social protection across Europe, especially for low-skilled and low-income women and men.

Through the involvement of national and European civil society organizations, social partners and government representatives, EUROSHIP aims to develop policy recommendations on how to strengthen social citizenship at the national and EU level.

EUROSHIP will provide new knowledge about the effectiveness of social protection policies targeted at reducing poverty and social exclusion in Europe. Focal points will be the roles of

• social protection systems (including minimum income schemes),
• digitalisation of work and social protection delivery, and
• the political opportunities for exercising choice and influence by three groups of citizens:

youth at risk,

precarious workers with care obligations and

elderly and disabled people with long-term care needs.

Linking the results of the different analyses, will give original insights on how social rights mitigate social and economic vulnerabilities across the life-course and affect the scope for exercising social citizenship within a multi-level governance system. The project will add to the knowledge base for further implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights and the Sustainable Development Goals/Agenda 2030, and through this, upward social convergence between Member States.

The project will address

• gaps in how and to what extent citizens are protected against risks of poverty and social exclusion in different stages of the life-course,
• gaps in how EU-level and national social rights are implemented by national governments,
• gaps in how social rights are enforced by public institutions, and
• gaps in how social rights are used by individual citizens and citizens’ groups.

For more information about the project: https://euroship-research.eu

MA thesis topics

We welcome students with an interest in social citizenship studies. We invite students in social policy to submit proposals for MA theses on one of the following topics:

1. Management of risk of poverty and social exclusion (coping and resistance strategies) among
2. youth with low or unfinished education, or
3. precarious families with care obligations (for children, disabled or elderly persons), or
4. low income elderly and disabled persons with long-term care needs.    
5. Reforms in minimum income protection and their effects on poverty in Norway and other European countries after the Recession (the financial crisis)
6. Opportunities for collective voice and influence among social security claimants, immigrants, disabled people or other citizens groups in the deliberation of social policy in Norway or other European countries.
7. Consequences of digitation of social services for the elderly or persons with disabilities.
8. Implementation of smart house technology in provision of long-term care services for persons of age and persons with disabilities.
9. Analyse the policy reponses to the European Accessibility Act  or the Web accessibility Directive

You are welcome to suggest other related topics. Please indicate on your two page proposal that you want to be involved with the EUROSHIP project.

Contact

Rune Halvorsen (rune.halvorsen@oslomet.no), Scientific Coordinator of EUROSHIP  

We invite master students form MIS, MSA, MBV and MFB to write master thesis for CEDIC

Centre for (the study of) digitization (of public services) and citizenship

We are looking for master students who are interested in studying digital citizenship and digitalization of the public sector. The students will participate in ongoing research examine how processes of digitization influence both the provision of welfare state services, and the ability for persons in vulnerable positions to access, use and benefit from these services. The core issue is how digitization modifies the capabilities of different social groups and individuals to exercise full and effective citizenship.

Background

The welfare state is undergoing an unprecedented structural transformation with increasing digitization of public services. The impacts of this digitization and the effects of this transformation on populations in vulnerable positions is largely unknown. Digitization can relocate life chances in asymmetrical ways, raising questions about issues such as access, de-humanization, effectiveness, equity, service provision and precision. While scholars in the social sciences have addressed various consequences of the digitization of the labour market, less attention has been given to effects of the digitization of public welfare services. CEDIC will address this gap in the literature in innovative ways and contribute new theories by combining insights from the social sciences, law, humanities and technology.  Typically, digitization of public sector services is conceived as a technological problem. CEDIC will change the focus to law, policies, and practices that shape the design, implementation and take-up of digitized services by the end users. While most research addressing digitization focuses on health services or the use of ICT in education, CEDIC addresses digitization of social services and the consequences for the claimants, beneficiaries, and target groups of social services. 

Topics for research

The students are invited to address research questions among overall issues such as:

• to examine policy measures aimed to ensure that digitization of public welfare services foster the exercise of full and effective social citizenship
• to investigate ethical, legal and human rights issues as they pertain to digitized public welfare services   
• to trace innovation processes in public welfare services and probe how different stakeholders negotiate the reconfiguration of the welfare state
• to explore how digitization affects the everyday life of persons in vulnerable positions (in welfare institutions e.g. nursing homes, child welfare institutions, schools and kindergartens)
• Explore the use of avatars in child welfare and social work

Application processes

Students are encouraged to find their own issues and research questions within the topics outlined here. Applications of approx. 1 page is welcome. These applications must be sent to the contact persons (see below) by 15 March. The applications that are granted will receive specific feedback, so that a further developed project sketch / work requirements for the kick-off seminar can be prepared.

Number of master students that can be recruited for the project are maximum 10 students. Supervision will take place individually and in groups. The students are also welcome to all CEDIC’s seminars.

The students will be supervised either by Professor Rune Halvorsen, Professor Marit Haldar, Professor Cecilie Basberg Neumann, Professor Elisabeth Gording-Stang, Associate Professor Julia Khöhler-Olsen, Associate Professor Gunn-Astrid Baugerud, Associate Professor Eirik Gundersen, postdoctor Erik Børve Rasmussen or postdoctor Lars E. Johannessen.

Contact persons:

Rune Halvorsen: runeh@oslomet.no

Marit Haldar: mariha@oslomet.no

AFI søker studenter som:

• ønsker å lære mer om inkludering av utsatte grupper i arbeidslivet og om samarbeid  mellom NAV-veiledere, brukere og arbeidsliv 
• kan delta i prosjektaktiviteter og datainnsamling
• enten skal skrive sin masteroppgave alene eller sammen med en studentkollega

DU FÅR:

• kompetanse knyttet til arbeidsliv og inkludering
• mulighet til å selv formulere problemstillinger og forskningsspørsmål som du selv er interessert i
• mulighet til å knytte kontakterinnenfor forskning og offentlige myndigheter
•  cv-bygging og muligheter for referanser i fremtidig jobbsøkerprosesser

Prosjekttittel: Inkluderings-kompetanse som samskaping

Dette forsknings- og utviklingsprosjektet gjennomføres ved Arbeidsforskningsinstituttet/SVA/OsloMet.   Prosjektet finansieres av NAV FoU og varer fra 01.10.2020 og ut 2023.

Prosjektet har følgende overordnede mål:

1. Utvikle praksisnære læringsmodeller for utvikling av inkluderingskompetanse blant NAV-veiledere
2. Utvikle inkluderingskompetanse i bedrifter gjennom samskaping mellom veiledere, brukere og mentorer om mentortiltaket

Samskaping innebærer at bedrift og bruker er aktivt med i utformingen av inkluderingsforløpet.

Forskningsdesignet er hovedsakelig kvalitativt orientert og medforskningsbasert og legger opp til forskningsstøttet organisasjonslæring på NAV-kontor. Det gjennomføres intervjuundersøkelser, samtaleobservasjon, dialogkonferanser, spørreundersøkelser samt dokumentanalyser i prosjektet.

I prosjektet deltar tre fylker med to utvalgte NAV-kontor (og to gjestefylker med to NAV-kontor hver). I tillegg deltar Arbeids- og tjenesteavdelingen og Kunnskapsavdelingen i Arbeids- og velferdsdirektoratet.

AFI ønsker aktive masterstudenter som deltar i flere av prosjektets aktiviteter – både feltarbeid, intervjuundersøkelser, spørreundersøkelse og deltakelse på prosjektets konferanser og samlinger kan være aktuelt. Studentene vil også bli invitert inn i interne fagmøter med forskerne på AFI og medforskere i praksisfeltet, og kan få bistand til sin egen prosjektutvikling og oppgaveskriving.

Siden dette er et forsknings- og utviklingsprosjekt som akkurat har startet, er det foreløpig ikke så mye eksisterende datamateriale. Vi nevner likevel to datasett som er innsamlet og som kan brukes i studentprosjekter:

1. En enkel spørreundersøkelse rettet mot NAV-veiledere som bruker mentortiltaket i sitt arbeid med å inkludere personer med nedsatt arbeidsevne i arbeidslivet
2. En intervjuundersøkelse der NAV-veiledere har svart på spørsmål om hvordan mentortiltaket fungerer i dag

Noen foreslåtte tema, problemstillinger eller hypoteser som studentene kan forfølge i masteroppgaven:

• Erfaringer i NAV og bedriftene med bruk av mentor
• Brukernes erfaringer med mentortiltaket 
• Utvikling av inkluderingsmuligheter, inkluderingsevne og inkluderingsvilje i bedriftene 
• Utvikling av inkluderingskompetanse på NAV-kontorene
• Utvikling av veilederrollen (kompetanseutvikling, tjenesteutvikling overfor brukere)
• Digitaliseringens betydning for kvalitetsmessig oppfølgning av brukere og mentor

Studenter som ønsker å delta i prosjektet får en unik mulighet til å knytte kontakter innenfor forskning, offentlig forvaltning og myndigheter. Gjennom prosjektet vil studentene også få innblikk i og kompetanse knyttet til arbeidsliv og inkludering. Deltakelse i prosjektet kan være gunstig for studentenes kompetanseutvikling, cv-bygging og gir muligheter for referanser i fremtidig jobbsøkerprosesser. Ta kontakt med prosjektleder Øystein Spjelkavik dersom du er interessert i mer informasjon om studentdeltakelse i dette prosjektet: oysp@oslomet.no eller mobil 90992966.