We are delighted to announce William Shankley as one of our UK Data Service Data Impact Fellows. William is a Sociology PhD student at the Cathie Marsh Institute of Social Research at The University of Manchester, and explains why he chose to research migration patterns of Polish people in England and Wales and the factors that shape migration decision-making.
Prior to my PhD in sociology at the University of Manchester I worked in the international development sector on a number of projects that supported asylum seekers and irregular migrants america rcs data living in Britain and overseas. The stories of these migrants shed light on the complexities of their migration experience and the multiple factors that were involved at different stages of their movement. The subsequent PhD opportunity enabled me to look at Polish migration from an academic perspective and to investigate the underlying factors that influenced and shaped migrants’ experiences.
My background considerably shaped the direction my PhD project and inspired me to gather and analyse multiple types of data that recognised Polish migrants’ experiences but also captured the larger patterns of Polish migration in Greater Manchester. The aim was not only to enhance empirical understanding of Polish migrants’ decision-making, but also to provide some tangible benefits to the people in question.