Best Doctoral Research prize for Business School researcher

Charlotte Hadley is the 2017 winner of the annual award presented by the Huddersfield Association of Women Graduates

ALLOTMENTS have been a British love affair for decades.  Now, an in-depth study, into the sustainability and the experiences and lives of those who take part in the hobby – otherwise known as allotmenteering – has earned a postgraduate student from the University of Huddersfield a coveted award.

Charlotte Hadley, a researcher within the University’s Business School, has been awarded the Best Doctoral Research prize from the Huddersfield Association of Women Graduates (HAWG), for her thesis entitled An Ethnographic study of Allotmenteering: Practising Sustainability?

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The Association, which is under the umbrella of the British Federation of Women Graduates, promotes female graduates from the University and was created in 1924 to battle against the historically-male dominated world of higher education.  The Federation celebrated their 90th anniversary in 2014.

This year applicants were invited from the University’s Business School, where staff were asked to nominate the most interesting and innovative doctoral research currently being undertaken by women PhD candidates within the School.  Every year a different school is chosen.

Initially Charlotte’s research followed a netnographic approach, in order to explore an online community that had become established in response to pressing environmental issues and was designed to help consumers lead more environmentally responsible lives.  But as this didn’t progress as expected, she decided to focus her research on one practice, allotmenteering, and chose to conduct an ethnographic study which looked at the peoples and cultures with their customs, habits and mutual differences. 

The new challenge meant immersing herself into the allotment community by spending time with the people, conducting interviews, participating and documenting the progress of their everyday practice over a period of twelve months.

She found that the concept of allotmenteers chasing ‘environmentally responsible consumption patterns’ was not always prevalent.  

The majority of the people who take part in allotmenteering don’t necessarily grow their own foods to be sustainable or to reduce their carbon footprint.  It’s more to do with a personal intimate involvement as opposed to a political or ideological underpinning.

Charlotte Hadley

Charlotte’s research will be fully completed after her viva voce in December.  She says she is actively seeking a teaching and/or research position in academia.

Originally from Fleetwood in Lancashire, Charlotte graduated in 2013 with first-class honours in Marketing Management and her route into doctoral research wouldn’t have been possible without the availability of the fee waivers and research scholarships the University offers to students who achieve high grades.  This, Charlotte says, is what opened up the possibility for her to realise the goal of conducting research as a career. 

Winning the award, she feels, is a substantial achievement, not just on a professional level but a personal one as well. 

“Halfway through my PhD, I changed the focus and methodological approach of my work, so to be awarded this prize for my research is a huge achievement,” she said.