PhD Boeing & UniSQ Sustainable Employment for Contemporary Manufacturing

This PhD research project is focused on psychosocial factors which contribute to attracting and retaining essential staff in advanced manufacturing in regional Australia (e.g., engineers, electricians, mechanics). The project scope is broad and open to negotiation with the project supervisors and sponsor. The research will consider psychosocial aspects of career development and workforce development, including: rural/urban locations; community culture; accessibility; family/community support; workplace culture and employment conditions. The research project will be supported by the supervisory expertise of ACCELL (the Australian Collaboratory for Career Employability & Learning for Living) and the Institute for Resilient Regions, and Boeing Defence Australia.

Stipend of AUD $33,000.00 plus top-up of $14151
Maximum period of tenure of an award is 3 years. Periods of study already undertaken towards the degree will be deducted from the period of tenure.

To be eligible applicants must:

have completed an Honours Degree with First Class or 2A Honours, or equivalent level, or a Master's degree with a significant research component in a social science disciplinary field (e.g., psychology, sociology);
have applied, or currently be enrolled at UniSQ;
not be receiving equivalent support providing a benefit greater than 75% of the student’s stipend rate;
be eligible to commence or continue full-time study for the PhD in 2024;
be able to conduct research on-site in Toowoomba and travel (driver licence required) to metropolitan and rural centres for project activities (e.g., data collection);
be an Australia citizen or an international student eligible to complete a research degree in Australia; and
obtain an Australian security clearance (through Boeing) at a level appropriate to the scope of work.

Applicants will be assessed on:

academic merit, previous research outputs and research experience of the applicant; and
quality of the research proposal.

Application must be made via the UniSQ Scholarships Online Application Management System.

If you require assistance in completing your application please download the Scholarship Online Application Manual.

To apply, please ensure you have digital copies of the below information:

Curriculum vitae; encompassing any research presentations and/or publications
Preliminary Research Thesis Topic Proposal (DOTX 153KB).
Further information about the project is available from Professor Peter McIlveen, peter.mcilveen@unisq.edu.au who should be contacted prior to submitting an application.
Education qualifications (testamur and academic transcripts for all undergraduate and postgraduate awards).

Prospective applicants may benefit from perusing a sample theses by PhD graduates who completed research projects with ACCELL which had a focus on attracting and retaining essential workers in rural and regional industries.

Rebecca Black. (2020). Career motivations of mechanical trade stem workers in agricultural occupations in regional Australia.
Kristen Lovric (2020). A mixed-method study of stem qualified professionals’ persistence intentions within the Australian agriculture sector.

If you require assistance in completing your application please download the Scholarship Online Application Manual (PDF 2.14MB).

Tuesday 30 April 2024 at 11:59pm (AEST)

Further information about this scholarship can be obtained from Professor Peter McIlveen by emailing peter.mcilveen@unisq.edu.au