Ashley Rogers
PhD in Socio-legal Studies
Scotland
![Ashley Rogers](/media/stirling/testimonials/graduate-stories/images/2018/ashley-rogers-sq.jpg)
Ashley's Story
Ashley Rogers has a long history of studying and working at the University after she chose to come to Stirling to do a BSc (Hons) Criminology and Sociology degree in 2003.
The 32-year-old from Cumbernauld later returned to work here as a teaching assistant while completing a Masters in International Relations at the University of Glasgow. She then continued teaching while undertaking a PhD at the University of Stirling.
“Pursuing a PhD is not a decision to be made lightly and yet deciding to do mine at the University of Stirling was by far one of the easiest decisions I have ever made,” she said.
“The decision was, like most PhDs, based on the quality of supervision on offer as well as other opportunities available at the institution.
“It has not only been the continued staff support that has contributed to the successful completion of my degrees at Stirling, but the overall University environment.
“I continue to adore the surroundings - one of the first things that attracted me to the University of Stirling when I was still in high school completing my UCAS form. With its wide open spaces and abundance of wildlife, the ability to escape from the books and walk around the loch, situated between the Ochil hills and the Wallace Monument, offered the perfect environment for reflection and serenity.”
As part of her PhD studies, Ashley spent a year doing fieldwork in La Paz, Bolivia, as well as a month at the Freie Universität in Berlin in the Institute for Latin American Studies.
Ashley’s hard work paid off when she was offered a full time permanent position as a lecturer in Criminology at the University of Abertay Dundee last year.
“My time at Stirling prepared me well for this role and I am enjoying being able to build on my teaching of crimes of the powerful, human rights, and critical criminology.
“I plan to continue researching human rights and in particular access to justice and the use of law in everyday life.
“I also continue to work with members of staff in the Faculty of Social Sciences on research projects related to justice and civic consciousness in Scotland, as well as on support for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in Scotland.”