Jennifer Ferguson

Jennifer's Story

I started at the University of Stirling studying International Politics at undergraduate, but I soon realised that was not for me, and swapped into Sociology and Criminology, and I never left. Almost 10 years later, I have just graduated from my PhD in Sociology exploring the support network of older people who live in care homes and I am now an ESRC Research Fellow at the university.

Studying at Stirling not only taught me a lot about sociology and research design, but it also gave me opportunities elsewhere. Through studying at Stirling, I secured an internship at the Scottish government as a data analyst and spent a semester at the University of Florida as a researcher. I’ve attended international conferences in Barcelona and Montreal and made friends all around the world.

For prospective students coming to Stirling, my main piece of advice would be to capitalise on all the opportunities that university can offer. It’s hard work, but if you put the effort in, opportunities will present themselves - even if they are not the opportunities you expected!