Dr Lyndsey Middleton on the move

Posted on December 9, 2025 by Hazel Hall

Dr Lyndsey Middleton

Congratulations – and good luck – to Edinburgh Napier University 2020 PhD graduate Dr Lyndsey Middleton as she embarks on the next stage of her career.

Lyndsey has recently transferred from her Senior Assistant Statistician post at the Scottish Government into the role of Senior Statistical Officer within the Capital and Borrowing Statistics team in the UK Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). This also means a switch of work base for Lyndsey from Edinburgh in Scotland to Darlington in England.

In her new role, Lyndsey will oversee some key tasks associated with the publication of statistics in the quarterly live tables and also annual data, including a statistical bulletin. She will also undertake data-related tasks such as quality assurance of the materials sent to, and data collected from, local authorities.

Further to this, Lyndsey now has some line management responsibilities, and opportunities for work-related travel for team days, networking, and learning events. She snapped the shot of the River Thames below on her return journey home to the north of England after her first work trip in her new role to the London office of the MHCLG last Wednesday 3rd December.

The River Thames, London. Photo credit Dr Lyndsey Middleton.

A new role for Dr Iris Buunk

Posted on August 26, 2025 by Hazel Hall

Dr Iris Buunk

All the best to Edinburgh Napier University PhD graduate Dr Iris Buunk, who has recently taken up a new position at the Service écoles-médias (SEM), DIP Etat de Genève. Iris’ new job title is Scientific Assistant and Project Manager. In her new role as a member of staff of the Département de l’instruction publique, de la formation de la jeunesse, Iris contributes to the development of digital technology, audiovisual, and documentation services for teaching staff working in primary and secondary schools in the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. Iris’ new job also includes project management, research, and event organisation, as well as managing a team of around ten colleagues. Continue reading →

Career information literacy and the decision-making behaviours of young people: PhD thesis now available

Posted on September 24, 2024 by Hazel Hall

Dr Marina Milosheva’s full PhD thesis Career information literacy and the decision-making behaviours of young people is now available from the Edinburgh Napier repository.

On the basis of the ESRC/SDS-funded empirical work reported in the thesis, Marina presents three main contributions to theory:

Articulation of career information seeking as a two-stage process.
Identification of two distinct career decision-making styles: (1) fulfilment-based; (2) pragmatic.
Demonstration of resilience as an information literacy skill.

Continue reading →

Congratulations Dr Marina Milosheva!

Posted on July 8, 2024 by Hazel Hall

Napier graduate pub Shakespeare Edinburgh

Shakespeare’s pub on Lothian Road was transformed into the Napier Graduate last week

Congratulations to Dr Marina Milosheva, whose doctoral degree was conferred in absentia at the Edinburgh Napier graduation ceremony at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh last Friday 5th July. Although Marina did not attend the ceremony in person, this day was a significant milestone in her PhD journey. This is because it is only from the date of the graduation ceremony that new PhD graduates are permitted to place the term ‘Dr’ before their names. Continue reading →

What can you do with a PhD? Ten answers from graduates who completed their doctoral studies between 2015 and 2023

Posted on May 13, 2024 by Hazel Hall

One of the questions most often asked of doctoral students is What are you going to do when you finish your PhD? For some students it is also one of the most dreaded, especially when it comes from family members or friends who barely understand the title of the doctoral research in question. An obvious, and truthful, answer is ‘No longer work on my thesis’. However, this isn’t really a suitable response. The questioner is interested in hearing about ‘proper’ job ambitions, and the value of these to a successful future career. Continue reading →

A new role at the University of Stirling for Marina Milosheva

Posted on May 1, 2024 by Hazel Hall

Marina Milosheva

Congratulations to Marina Milosheva on her appointment as post-doctoral researcher within the Faculty of Social Sciences (Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology division) at the University of Stirling. Marina joined the University of Stirling on Monday, five weeks after her PhD examiners recommended that Edinburgh Napier University award her doctorate unconditionally (i.e. with no corrections required to her thesis).

In her new role, Marina is working on the Bridge, youth, and mindsport education project. This research is affiliated with the non-profit organisation Bridge: a mindsport for all (BAMSA). This body was formed to support research into the sociology of the card game bridge. Continue reading →

How do young people and careers advisers collaborate in their use of careers information? New publication in the Australian Journal of Career Development

Posted on April 16, 2024 by Hazel Hall

The collaborative use of career information by young people and career advisers: a thematic content analysis of career counselling records has been published in the April 2024 issue of the Australian Journal of Career Development. I am one of the co-authors of this article alongside Marina Milosheva, Professor Pete Robertson, and Dr Peter Cruickshank.

In this work we discuss the information behaviours of young people and careers advisers. We highlight three modes of information seeking: (1) that prompted by careers advisers; (2) that undertaken by careers advisers on behalf of young people; and (3) that completed collaboratively by young people with their careers advisers. The patterns of the interactions, the language deployed over their duration, and the roles of each set of actors in the process of information seeking, point to ways in which career services may be improved, and career information, advice and guidance policies developed. Continue reading →

Work over winter 2023/24

Posted on April 8, 2024 by Hazel Hall

Marina Milosheva’s draft PhD thesis

I have been a little quiet on this blog over the past five months or so. The main reason for this is that I have taken on a further role in addition to that of Emeritus Professor. I am now Continue reading →