School of Social and Political Science

Dr Elke Heins

Senior Lecturer in Social Policy

staff portrait Elke Heins
elke.heins@ed.ac.uk
+44 (0)131 650 4049
https://www.linkedin.com/in/Elke Heins/
2.06
Chrystal Macmillan Building
15a George Square
Edinburgh
UK
EH8 9LD

Research interests

European Union Studies Governance of welfare states Health & Well-being Science, knowledge and policy UK and Comparative Politics Welfare, policy and Covid-19 Work & Economy

Comparative social policy, Labour Market Policy, fuzzy set/QCA, welfare reform, trade unions, Health policy, Politics of health, European social policy, well-being

PhD students (current)

Hannah Glover, 'Where to next? Post-school transitions and career decision-making among young people in Scotland' (SGSSS/Skills Development Scotland co-funded).

Marta Robertson-Rombalska, 'Vulnerable young people's experiences during the transition to adulthood: A longitudinal investigation in a Scottish birth cohort' (SGSSS/Skills Development Scotland co-funded).

Sarah Winter, 'Informing Scotland’s CIAG services for all life stages'  (ESRC/Skills Development Scotland co-funded).

Previous PhD students

Cristina Asenjo Palma, 'Empowerment and Wellbeing: A Comparative Study of Asset and Rights Based Approaches to Local Development in the UK' (ESRC funded).

Fabio Battaglia, 'To GDP or not to GDP? Identifying the barriers to uptake and application of measures of progress and well-being in Scotland and Italy'. Winner of the "Italy Made Me 2023" award.

Nikos Kanellopoulos, ‘The Discursive Construction of Higher Education Reform During the Crisis (2011-2015): The Case of Greece’ (funded by the Onassis Foundation).

Blanca Kao, 'How, and to what extent, are health implications taken into account in the decision-making processes within the Scottish local government? A Multiple-Case Study of Scottish Local Authorities'.

Alexander Mesarovich, 'It's not what you know...: Europeanization and informal networks in former Yugoslavia'. Winner of the SPS Outstanding Thesis Award (2021/22) and the UK-wide Doctoral Research Awards (2022): http://drawards.org.uk/dra2022.

Charlotte Zealley, 'Employability engagement and support provision and the labour market transitions of young people' (ESRC/SGSSS funded).

 

Topics interested in supervising

I would welcome inquiries about supervision of research on a wide range of topics in social policy, particularly from a comparative and European perspective, including unemployment, skills and labour market policy, health policy, welfare and wellbeing, the politics of welfare reform, the impact of the EU and international organisations on social policy, the involvement of trade unions, third sector or commercial sector organisations in welfare policy delivery.

If you are interested in being supervised by Elke Heins, please see the links below (open in new windows) for more information:

Background

My principal research interests are comparative and European social policy, in particular labour market, skills and unemployment policy as well as the politics of welfare and wellbeing in the UK, including at devolved level.

I am a graduate of the University of Mannheim and have a PhD in Political and Social Science from the European University Institute in Florence.

 

Teaching

Semester 1

European Social Policy - PG (course convener)

Understanding sustainable welfare and eco-social policy (co-course convenor), alternating years

Semester 2

Eco-social policy and sustainable welfare - PG (co-course convenor), alternating years

Politics of the Welfare State - UG (course convener)

Online teaching

Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Social Wellbeing, delivered via FutureLearn.

first course run: 26 September - 16 October 2016. Please visit FutureLearn for further course runs.

Knowledge exchange

ESRC Policy Fellow, Welsh Government, SHELL (Skills, Higher Education and Lifelong Learning) (February 2022-July 2023)

Parliamentary Fellow, Beltane Public Engagement Network (January-June 2016)

Good Lives And Decent Societies (GLADS) (PI): Scottish Universities Insight Institute funded series of knowledge exchange events designed to inform the work of policy makers and third sector practitioners regarding indicators for the measurement of well-being (together with Jan Eichhorn, John Frank and Neil Thin at the University of Edinburgh and a range of external partners). Details can be found here.

Other professional activities

Member of the European Social Policy Analysis Network (ESPAnet) board.

Co-editor of the Journal of Social Policy, Cambridge University Press (2021-2025).

Academic Co-convenor of the FUTURES Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence (2018-2021).

Europa Institute Steering Group member.

Editorial board member of the Australian Journal of Social Issues.

Chair of editorial advisory board Understanding Welfare series, Policy Press.

Works within

Tuesdays 13:00-14:00 (semester only). Please email for an appointment outside this time.

 

 

Elke Heins's Research Explorer profile