I am a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford, working on gender inequalities in adolescence at the GenTime project, headed by Professor Man-Yee Kan. I am also affiliated with the Centre for Population Change at the University of Southampton, and had the opportunity to work on the UK Generations and Gender Survey (GGS). My recent visit this September to the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI) and the Generations and Gender Programme (GGP) hub at the Hague, made possible by COORDINATE was a fantastic opportunity for me to meet colleagues I have met virtually, or only briefly at conferences, as well as get feedback on my research work using the GGS.
As I am working on UK Millennial’s living arrangements and their emotional wellbeing using the UK GGS data, being able to be at GGP allowed me to expand this analysis to the other GGP countries, and to gain valuable insights from the team at the hub. Within the week, I was able to meet GGP colleagues who worked on similar issues such as partnership status and Millennial’s loneliness in post-Soviet countries, and also be linked to colleagues who have conducted work on the measurements of loneliness and happiness (and it’s validity cross-country), mode effects of measuring these scales, and on solo living in Europe. The research on loneliness, especially, resonated with my work, as it illuminated potential links between millennials’ living arrangements and feelings of isolation.
During my visit, I engaged in valuable social networking with my colleagues and peers from GGP and NIDI, who were incredibly friendly, brilliant, and working on interesting and emerging topics on demographic research. The GGP colleagues kindly invited me into their GGP meetings too, which allowed me to learn more about their future work, and they also gave me lots of good advice regarding my research work. Meeting researchers who share similar interests fostered not only professional connections but also insightful discussions that can influence my work. I enjoyed the work culture there, where colleagues are encouraged to have lunch together, and to mingle with as many people in the office during breaks. It was during these breaks that I learnt how the building used to be an old bank!
One of the highlights of my visit was presenting my research project about the UK, and some early findings using a wider set of GGP countries. The feedback from my GGP and NIDI colleagues was immensely helpful in refining my arguments and methodology, and I came away with fresh perspectives to add to improve my analysis. I was also given direction to specific syntax I could use to ensure certain definitions were coherent across the GGP countries (e.g., total number of children, whether children were co-resident in the household etc). The thoughtful questions and critiques pushed me to look deeper into the data and consider additional factors that might influence Millennials' wellbeing.
I truly enjoyed my visit, as I had a lot of fun and came away with new insights. I wish I could have stayed a little longer! I have even met new colleagues, of which some will be visiting the University of Oxford for their research visit, and I hope we can continue these good relations between universities and institutes.
Top of Form
Comments