IOE alumni named winners of the 2024 BERA Master’s Dissertation and Doctoral Thesis awards

The awards are given in recognition of academic excellence and research rigour within the field of educational research. 

Emily Macleod won for her thesis, “The status and safety of teaching: A longitudinal study of why some young people in England become teachers, and why others do not.” She investigated young people’s motivations behind pursuing – or not pursuing – the profession amidst the context of national and international teacher shortages. 

She completed her PhD at IOE’s Department of Education, Practice and Society in 2023, and was a co-host on IOE’s podcast series Research for the Real World. She continues on as an honorary postdoctoral fellow. She also worked on the ASPIRES research project studying young people's science and career aspirations, before which she was a secondary school teacher. 

Kate Fox won for her MA dissertation entitled “Building bridges or barriers? A study of home, community, and school literacy practices in rural Tanzania.”

Her dissertation centres the experiences of parents from rural communities within the Tanzanian education system – and the diverse ways families and communities contribute to young children’s literacy learning.

Kate completed her Master’s degree at IOE in 2023. She is now a Research Officer with the IOE Research Development team, and a Research Assistant working on two multi-institutional projects: Climate-U and Equitable research cultures. Her career in education spans 20 years as a teacher, headteacher and teacher trainer in Tanzania and the UK.

Related links

• Read more: BERA announces 2024 Master’s Dissertation and Doctoral Thesis winners
• Emily on ‘Why do people aspire to become teachers?’ RFTRW: S19E03
• More about Kate Fox
• More about Dr Emily Macleod 
• Research for the Real World podcast
• ASPIRES project

• Centre for Education and International Development

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Emily Macleod (left) and Kate Fox (right).