Early Career Researchers' Workshop

The European Society for Health and Medical Sociology is pleased to announce its Early Career Workshop scheduled for Tuesday, July 2, 2024. This in-person workshop precedes the main conference, which will be held in Antwerp, Belgium. The one-day interactive program is tailored to assist young scholars in developing analytical skills, sharing and critically reflecting on their work. The primary goal is to bring together early career researchers for critical discussions on their research, exploring emerging approaches to theory and methods, addressing challenges, receiving feedback on their writing and thinking, and fostering collaboration, support, and networking through communal activities.

This 20th edition of the ESHMS early career workshop will focus on the conference's overarching theme Intersectionality & Inclusion in Health, and will consist of two different interactive workshops:

The role of language in health-related research: inclusive communication in research and practice
Prof. Jana Declercq, University of Antwerp 

Research on health has increasingly focused on giving the patient a voice both in clinical care and in research, as the rise of concepts like patient centeredness, shared decision-making, and the expert patient shows. In most research on these topics, the attention to language is relatively limited. By adopting the perspective that language and the social world (including the worlds of clinical care and health research) are mutually shaping, we can extend our tools for reflection on inclusion in health care and health research. In the workshop, we will explore for instance whether and how we label those entering health care – as patients, clients, or otherwise – matters; how metaphors and other linguistic resources can implicitly construct particular perspectives on the body and on illness, and how this can affect how patients perceive their role, their health provider’s role, and their legitimacy in the care context. Finally, we will reflect on what this means – both for communication and discourse in clinical settings, but also what we ourselves produce as researchers.

How should we understand ‘gender’ in health research today?​​
Prof. Ellen Annandale, University of York 

The conventional gender binary approach to health research has come under considerable scrutiny of late. This has been triggered by political demands (in some societies, in some parts of the world) to recognise multiple genders and gender fluidity and, within academia, by accumulative attention to intersectionality and inclusion in research. Yet the gender binary and whether it can (and should) be deconstructed, remains highly political and contested, not the least within feminism and gender studies. In this lecture, I will suggest that as levers for change, and resistance to change, steer us in various (perhaps competing) directions, we are at a pivot point in how ‘gender’ should be conceptualised and researched. After reflecting on theoretical and methodological issues, I will draw on two different research illustrations: quantitative research on health status and qualitative research on maternity care. 

The Early Career Workshop is intended for PhD students and early career researchers (up to 3 years postdoc) in the social sciences and public health, interested in a sociological approach to health and illness. The workshop is limited to 10 participants and will be in English.

While attendance at the main conference is not mandatory for workshop participation, we strongly encourage it as a unique opportunity to meet European and global scholars and hear key-note speakers. The workshop's cost is covered by ESHMS, but selected young researchers will be asked to pay the ESHMS membership fee. For more information please visit https://eshms.eu/membership. 

How to apply?

To apply, submit a Word document outlining:

1. Your motivation to participate in this thematic workshop (500-800 words)
2. Your research project + stage of research (200-400 words)
3. Your full name, institution, and contact details

Send your application no later than March 20, 2024

To Melissa Ceuterick (melissa.ceuterick@ugent.be) and Sofie Avery (sofie.avery@uantwerpen.be).

Applicants will be notified of acceptance by April 15, 2024.

Selected participants should submit an assigned piece of work they intend to discuss during the workshops by June 1 2024. Published and under-revision articles are also accepted.

For further inquiries, please contact Melissa Ceuterick (melissa.ceuterick@ugent.be).