PhD Position "Social Media Representation of LGBQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Queer) Young People"

Are you passionate about exploring the role of social media in shaping the representation of LGBQ youth? Do you want to contribute to research that promotes a more inclusive media landscape and empowers LGBQ youth? If so, apply for this PhD project which delves into the impact of social media representations on LGBQ young people’s identity development and well-being.

PhD Opportunity: Social Media Representations of LGBQ Young People
The Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR) is looking for a highly motivated PhD candidate for the project: Social Media Representations of LGBQ Young People. The project is embedded within the Youth and Media Entertainment Program Group of the Department of Communication Science and will be supervised by Dr. Chei Billedo (PI), Prof. dr. Jessica Piotrowski, Prof. dr. Jochen Peter, and Dr. Sindy Sumter.

This project’s main aim is to investigate the role of social media in providing authentic LGBQ youth identity representation. The media play an important role in shaping young peoples’ identity. However, research on representations in traditional entertainment media has shown that sexual identity minorities’ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer or LGBQ) representations are often absent; and if present, these representations are mostly negative or stereotypical. With social media, the media landscape is expected to change, i.e. offering more diverse content and catering to a greater variety of audiences. Consequently, it is argued that social media may be especially beneficial for LGBQ youth who do not see their identities authentically represented in traditional entertainment media. However, to date empirical evidence for this assumption is lacking. For this reason, the current project will address the question: How do LGBQ social media representations contribute to positive self-concept and sexual identity integration among sexual minority youth?

What are you going to do
As a PhD candidate in this project, you will conduct three related studies connected to the overarching research question of the project. The project is currently planned to include a systematic narrative review, a survey research, and a longitudinal design study with experience sampling method (ESM). This PhD project requires you to provide an overview of relevant academic literature and design the three studies of the project. Together, successfully completing these studies will lead to a PhD dissertation.

You will:

• Manage the project, e.g., schedule meetings with the supervisory team, prepare the agenda for these meetings, document meetings and research activities;
• Design and prepare the studies (e.g., create a search strategy for a narrative literature review, set up a survey);
• Collect and analyze data for the studies (e.g., collect and synthesize relevant academic literature, recruit survey and ESM participants, analyze cross-sectional survey and ESM data);
• Write academic articles for publications in high-impact scientific journals, as well as present in (inter)national conferences;
• Contribute to the ASCoR research community by attending workshops, meetings, and lectures;
• Contribute to teaching activities at Bachelor’s level (up to approximately 10% of your time).

What do you have to offer
You have:

• a (research) master’s degree in communication science, psychology, media studies or expect to obtain it soon;
• a strong interest in the topics of social media, media representation, diversity and inclusion;
• knowledge of and experience with quantitative research methods and data analysis required; in particular, literature reviews, surveys, experiments; in addition experience with data donations, experience sampling methodology (ESM), (multilevel) longitudinal analyses, computational methods are a plus;
• skills to handle complex datasets;
• an interest in open science principles and a commitment to methodological rigor and scientific integrity;
• excellent spoken and written English, with proficiency in Dutch or a willingness to learn.

You are able to:

• show curiosity in exploring insights from various disciplines and a readiness to learn new skills and methods as the project evolves, adapting to challenges with resilience and creativity;
• maintain a proactive attitude, be open to feedback, and pay attention to detail;
• manage your own time effectively and work independently while collaborating well within a team;
• keep a cool head and stay organized when juggling multiple tasks;
• communicate research findings clearly to both academic and non-academic audiences.

What else do we offer
The planned starting date for this project is June 2025, but there is some flexibility with regard to the starting date. The position concerns temporary employment of 38 hours per week for a maximum term of 4 years. The initial employment is for one year. Following a positive assessment and barring altered circumstances, this term will be extended by a maximum of 36 months, which should result in the conferral of a doctorate. We will put together a curriculum which will also include the opportunity to attend training courses and both national and international events, such as academic conferences. You will also be tasked with teaching (Bachelor’s) students for up to approximately 10% of the contract.

At this department, you will be working
This project is embedded within the Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR) at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, University of Amsterdam. ASCoR is the research institute for Communication Science, structured around four program groups: Persuasive Communication, Corporate Communication, Political Communication & Journalism, and Youth & Media Entertainment. For more information, see the ASCoR website.

For this project, you will be officially embedded in the Youth & Media Entertainment (YME) program group. Within YME, the focus lies on the role of entertainment media in everyday life, with a special emphasis on children and adolescents’ experiences and well-being. Taking a media psychology perspective, YME explores both traditional and digital forms of entertainment to understand their impact on people’s lives (see also the CcaM website).

Within the YME group and ASCoR at large, you’ll join a welcoming and dynamic research community where collaboration and interdisciplinary approaches are highly valued. Set in the vibrant city of Amsterdam, you’ll engage with impactful research addressing key challenges across the field of Communication Science.

Do you recognize yourself in this job profile? We look forward to receiving your application by January 31, 2025.

Please submit your application as a single .pdf file, including:

• Letter of motivation: Begin the first paragraph by outlining how you meet the selection criteria. If there are any criteria you do not yet fully meet, explain how you plan to develop the necessary skills. Additionally, share your interest in the topic and your readiness for the PhD project. Optionally, you may include the contact details of two academic referees who are familiar with your work.
• Curriculum vitae, with grade transcripts from your bachelor’s and (research) master’s studies;
• Writing sample in English, such as a master’s thesis or a recent essay.

Interviews for this position are scheduled to take place on February 21 and March 7, 2025.

Questions? Feel free to contact Chei Billedo at c.j.billedo@uva.nl.

No agencies please.

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