Charlotte McPherson

Dr Charlotte McPherson is a Research Associate at the Centre for Public Policy Research at King's College London. Charlotte was awarded her PhD in Sociology and Social Policy from the University of Stirling in 2020, which focused on working-class young people's experiences of, and perspectives on, social (in)justice during their transitions through education, employment and early adulthood in Scotland.

In 2015 and 2016 respectively, Charlotte was awarded her Bachelors and Masters degrees from the University of Stirling, where she again engaged with young people across Scotland to explore their political participation and their educational and labour market experiences. In 2019, Charlotte was selected for a competitive ESRC-funded visiting fellowship to the internationally recognised Youth Research Centre at the University of Melbourne, where she worked with leading youth sociologists on the Centre's longitudinal study of the lives of two generations of young people across Australia, Life Patterns.

Between January and October of 2020, Charlotte conducted qualitative research exploring food insecurity under Covid-19 among young people living in Edinburgh and London in a project funded by the Oak Foundation. This project was mentored by a range of experts in youth, poverty and food insecurity, from institutions including the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Poverty Alliance, St. Basil's and the Trussell Trust.

Her work on youth experiences and transitions through education and employment has been published in the Journal of Youth Studies and in edited collections, and she has presented her research at a range of conferences, including in Australia. Charlotte has recently started a four-year Research Associate post at King's College London, where she has joined a team of researchers on a major ESRC-funded study of young people's opportunities upon leaving school in England.