News and Blog

Professor W. John Morgan, Leverhulme Emeritus Fellow, at WISERD, has been elected an Honorary Professor, School of Educational Sciences, University of Jordan. This is in recognition of his contribution to comparative and international education and social development. Among his several appointments, Professor Morgan has been Chair of the United Kingdom’s National Commission for UNESCO; a member…

A wealth of social science research expertise has helped Cardiff become the UK’s first UNICEF Child Friendly City (CFC). The prestigious status has been awarded to the city in recognition of the steps Cardiff Council and its partners, including Cardiff University, have taken over the past five years to advance the human rights of children…

Pictured above: Dr Rose Butler and Dr Victoria Stead, Deakin University, Australia with Professor Michael Woods, Aberystwyth University. Dr Rose Butler and Dr Victoria Stead kindly contributed to the WISERD blog following their visit to Wales from 1–8th October, 2023. We were thrilled to spend a week as guests of the Wales Institute for Social…

New research argues Plaid Cymru downplayed its demands for Welsh independence to prioritise vote-seeking goals between 2003 and 2015, and foregrounded calling for independence after 2019, with the new party leadership spurring this shift in the dramatically changed political context of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. Demands for independence have increased across parts of…

A year into the mass vaccination programme, people who experienced homelessness in Wales had rates of Covid-19 vaccine uptake that were almost 20% points less than people of similar characteristics. The study, led by Dr. Ian Thomas, also found that the rate at which the Covid-19 vaccine was provided was slower for people with recent…

Masculinity is complex, diverse and can be expressed in multiple ways. yanik88/Shutterstock Richard Gater, Cardiff University There seem to be as many interpretations of what “toxic masculinity” means as there are uses of the term. Some believe it’s a way to criticise what they see as specific negative behaviour and attitudes often associated with men….

Welsh language and identity 2022’s WISERD Multi-Cohort Study of secondary school children across Wales provides valuable insight into the attitudes of pupils towards the Welsh language. As we might expect, results vary according to school medium as to whether pupils consider the Welsh language to be a part of their Welsh identity. Pupils in English-medium…

One of my first experiences with activism was within a school setting, when I was involved in the presenting of a petition against the dress code in 2019. It was circulated through social media as a Google Docs link and then forwarded to the headteacher. Unknown to me, this had become an increasingly frequent occurrence…

A new paper by Professor Michael Woods has been published in The Geographical Journal. The paper proposes the adoption of a spatial justice approach to understanding the multiple crises facing rural Britain and developing policy responses. It outlines the key dimensions of rural spatial justice and considers its application to analysis of challenges in the…

I am a WISERD education research associate based at Cardiff University in sbarc|spark, the world’s first social science research park. One of the aims of sbarc|spark is to encourage collaboration and creative thinking, but I never expected to join the Cardiff Christmas Dinner Crew and help plan a Christmas dinner for care experienced young people….