Dr Rebecca Kerr is Y-PERN Policy Fellow for York and North Yorkshire, helping to foster relationships between the new combined mayoral authority and academics, with a particular focus on understanding challenges and barriers faced by female entrepreneurs in the sub-region.
As the Y-PERN Policy Fellow for York and North Yorkshire, Rebecca is responsible for…
Providing knowledge brokerage and research capacity support in York and North Yorkshire. Rebecca is responsible for fostering relationships between the new combined mayoral authority and academics. Beyond this, she also responds to policy demand-led research within the region and provides capacity support where needed.
Rebecca’s most looking forward to…
Seeing the impact of work in her region. There is sometimes a disconnect between academia and policy stakeholders. This may come apparent through a confusing network of many different people and bureaucratic layers to policy development. It also comes through in not speaking to the ‘right’ people, or rather, in hearing the same voices. In fulfilling a role which actively seeks to weaken this barrier, there is the real potential to see how policy development can benefit from a research network.
Key areas of focus for Rebecca are…
On female entrepreneurship within the region, evaluation around council initiatives and pilots, supporting the new combined mayoral authority on key areas of research interests and in policy research training for students at the University of York.
Rebecca is currently working on understanding challenges and barriers that female entrepreneurs in the region of York and North Yorkshire face alongside the Federation of Small Businesses. With the help of participatory research methods and much enthusiasm from women within York and North Yorkshire, Rebecca is focused on providing real strategic recommendations for change informed by the lived experiences of women in the region.
She is also involved with ongoing evaluative work of the City of York Council schemes to provide qualitative insight on recommendations. As part of Rebecca’s role in the moving political structure of York and North Yorkshire’s combined mayoral authority and upcoming mayoral elections, she is working to understand key areas of research interests and in facilitating knowledge exchange. Rebecca is also based at TYPE (The York Policy Engine) and is involved with policy training packages for PhD students.
Rebecca joins us with a background in..
Political science, sociology and qualitative research methods. Rebecca started out in sociology and moved into political science. She left academia for a brief period to work as a public research consultant, gaining insight into research partnerships with governmental departments, local government, charities, thinktanks and other public organisations. She returned to academia to teach for a time on qualitative research methods before taking up her Y-PERN post.
