Supporting postgraduates in Christian thinking
WYSOCS is now advertising the position of Postgraduate Students’ Support Worker. Please see the job description for more details and contact us for an application form (deadline: 16 Feb).
The need
Postgraduate students constitute a large proportion of all university students in the UK. Many go on to positions of cultural leadership here and overseas, often in countries with minimal Christian influence. Christian postgraduates therefore are an internationally-important group with significant opportunity for bringing redemptive influence into diverse fields of culture and society including academia, politics, media, business, finance, science and law. These fields are increasingly driven by secularist agendas that may threaten the freedom and well-being of citizens.
While undergraduate Christian fellowships are active in most UK universities, and well supported for example by UCCF, Christian postgraduates’ groups (CPGs) are known to be active only in some 12 UK universities. There are large and active groups at Oxford and Cambridge, but most CPGs are believed to meet in small numbers for social contact, prayer and Bible study, and only occasionally to discuss questions arising in academic study. At Leeds and York, for example, mailing lists reach around 30 contacts and regular attendances are around 3–10 people. Yearly turnover of students renders such groups vulnerable to extinction.
Christian postgraduates’ involvement in churches is the rule, but it is often tenuous. While a few churches run postgraduates’ fellowship groups (especially in London, Oxford and Durham), this context is unlikely to sustain serious reflection on what a Christian worldview means for their disciplines and careers. Church leaders cannot contribute understanding of many highly-specialised fields and few churches enjoy the membership of many academics. Christian professional organisations support critical reflection but their meetings may be occasional and not always accessible to busy campus-based students. University chaplaincy services are available for postgraduates but only occasionally penetrate the faith-and-learning nexus.
Previous research reveals a need for institutional support of Christian postgraduates in the UK. WYSOCS has already begun to engage with other individuals and organisations that sense the need for ongoing support for integrating faith with scholarship among students. Our preliminary research confirms that no other organisation is currently pursuing this at a national level. WYSOCS is a Christian education centre exploring the power of faith commitments in learning about every aspect of life; it values inter-disciplinary relationships among academics, professionals, media, commerce and all other fields of culture. WYSOCS has a national support base, active contact with the Christian postgraduates’ conference Transforming the Mind and associate membership of the International Association for the Promotion of Christian Higher Education.
The Aim
FAITH-IN-SCHOLARSHIP will employ a worker to support student-led Christian postgraduate ministry around the UK and encourage the integration of faith with scholarship.
Objectives
- Increase the numbers of postgraduates involved in Christian postgraduates’ groups (CPGs) and participating in national events.
- Increase the focus on, and resourcing of, faith-in-scholarship discussion and study among Christian postgraduates – evidenced by contents of groups’ meetings, involvement of specialist researchers or organisations, levels of participation in topical discussion forums.
- Improve links between Christian student-led groups and resourcing organisations – evidenced by attendance of personnel at meetings, publicity material such as newsletters and websites.
- Strengthen the national and international profile, esteem and sense of identity for Christian postgraduates in the UK – evidenced by statistics for hits on relevant websites, levels of participation in discussion forums.
- Prepare case-study reports on two or three CPGs, to be made available to interested organisations.
Updated December 2011