A custom Design Thinking workshop developed in collaboration with the University of Roehampton aiming to develop proposition for a new Doctoral Landscape Award (DLA) to raise the value of the Arts & Humanities, better prepare PhD students for diverse careers, and embed vital EDI principles from the ground up.
At a glance
In June 2025, we were commissioned by Dr Melissa Jogie, Director of Research Culture, Impact and Early Career Development at the University of Roehampton, to deliver a custom design thinking workshop as part of her AHRC-funded project ‘Equality, Diversity, Inclusion: Informing technē Doctoral Training Partnership Action Plan.’
The one-day session, led by Dr Ninela Ivanova, aimed to develop a proposition for a new Doctoral Landscape Award (DLA) to raise the value of the Arts & Humanities, better prepare PhD students for diverse careers, and embed vital EDI principles from the ground up.
Unlike off-the-shelf workshops, this event utilised a methodology custom-designed for the specific nuances of the Arts & Humanities research landscape. Based on the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design's design thinking approach, the workshop employed four structured activities to guide participants. This enabled us to directly address the unique challenges and opportunities within the field, and ensured that the insights generated were not generic but deeply relevant to the institutional context and the lived experiences of Arts & Humanities researchers and wider stakeholders.
Key details
More information
Course structure
The workshop used Design Thinking methodology to collectively explore the experience and complex factors affecting inequality in the sector, to co-create propositions, narratives, or scenarios for alleviating exclusion in the way Arts & Humanities research is conceived, funded, delivered and disseminated.
Specific objectives included:
- Encouraging participants to critically examine how inequalities are conceptualised and addressed within their disciplines and institutions.
- Foster dialogue on how the unique characteristics of Arts & Humanities scholarship can contribute to system-level EDI transformation.
- Exploring strategies for embedding EDI considerations more effectively into research design and public engagement activities.
- Investigating how future funding models can better support Arts & Humanities research that engages deeply with lived experiences of inequality, disadvantage, loss, and violence.
The course included an introduction to the Design Thinking approach and key principles. The participants then went through three sessions split into Discover, Define, and Develop. Across these three sessions participants explored the lived experience of inequality for diverse stakeholders in the Arts & Humanities and the local and systemic factors contributing to exclusion in the sector.
In the next session there was the opportunity for the Arts & Humanities scholarship to contribute to system-level EDI transformation. Concluding with the final session where they ideated and co-created propositions for greater embeddedness of EDI consideration in research design, delivery and dissemination and funding models aimed at advancing EDI-focused research.
Outcomes
The workshop culminated in three pitches for a new Doctoral Landscape Award that represented a significant shift in doctoral education. They proposed moving from a purely academic model to a more integrated, skills-based approach.
The new model would emphasise interdisciplinary collaboration, professional skill development through internships and secondments, and enhanced career support. This collaborative outcome highlights how a custom design thinking approach can empower a diverse group of stakeholders to collectively envision a more flexible, accessible, and impactful future for doctoral education.
Custom Executive Education
Custom Executive Education Masterclasses and Workshops
Through our portfolio of innovation masterclasses and workshops, the RCA provides senior-level professionals and business leaders with critical business skills. We deliver courses for businesses, organisations and universities on design thinking, service design, creative leadership, disruptive innovation, entrepreneurship, human-centred design, artificial Intelligence and healthcare design.
We can tailor the curriculum for a day, a week, or several weeks over the course of a year with interrelated projects. Courses can be delivered online, on-campus, hybrid or at partner organisations. Previous courses have been delivered in Dubai, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Germany and Mexico.
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Please get in contact with us if you would like to discuss developing a custom programme:
- Peter Christian, Head of Executive Education
- Hattie Allen, Executive Education Manager
