The QM Centre for Creative Collaboration conducted a workshop in June 2024 on Young Researchers, bringing together creative youth organisations in east London and researchers at Queen Mary who collaborate with young people in their research.
The session was led by Dr Jenny Hewitt, the postdoctoral researcher leading the Young Researchers programme with the Centre. She has previously worked at the University of Sussex, The University of Manchester and the Open University, researching childhood, youth, sociopolitics, care, and everyday lives.
This workshop marks the start of a three-year project that will convene a network of academics across Queen Mary with experience of or interest in working with young people. We are collaborating with young people, teachers and creative youth workers who will inform and shape training and toolkits for researchers at QM looking to involve young people in their research.
Topics that came up at this first workshop included eliciting young people's research interests, advocating for adaptable curricula, managing peer researchers' emotional labour and ensuring long-term outcomes. Discussion also centred on providing support, investigating the importance of lived experience, and devising effective ways to involve young people.
Strengthening relationships between researchers, organisations, and gatekeepers such as teachers and youth workers was stressed, as was adjusting approaches for different age groups and providing suitable compensation.
Involving young people in research has various benefits, including stimulating original thinking, developing future researchers, providing new views, and increasing trust and authenticity in study outputs. However, problems can include dealing with shyness, assuring mutual benefit, overcoming finance barriers, obtaining ethical clearances, and staying engaged.
Participants investigated many research interests, including science, politics, community impact, education, everyday lives, specialities and creative expression. Effective relationships between universities and youth organisations were judged essential, with an emphasis on ethical issues, training, and local adaptations. Crucially, it is vital that what is understood to be ‘effective’ is understood from each perspective.
Youth organisations in the room emphasised the importance of balanced connections, engagement spaces, tangible outcomes, fair compensation, and university endorsements in order to achieve credibility and funding. This comprehensive strategy seeks to empower young people by making their perspectives heard, creating active change in communities, and establishing meaningful collaborations for impactful and innovative research.
If you are interested to stay in touch with the Young Researchers network that Jenny is setting up for researchers at QM, please email her on jenny.hewitt@qmul.ac.uk