Internship Q&A

Hunter Centre doctoral student Norin Arshed recently completed an internship with the Government's Department of Business Innovation and Skills (BIS).... Here, she gives us an insight into what that involved.

What did you do before your current role at Strathclyde, and what are you now doing?

Before becoming a PhD student I was working in London for 3 years as a consultant (economist).

Currently I have just started 3rd year into my PhD at the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship. The underlying theme of my research focuses on institutional theory and how government in the UK formulates enterprise policy.

What led you to do the internship?

My primary research last year led me to interview senior civil servants and I was asked to carry out some work for them after I had gathered my initial data. However, at that time (January 2009), BIS did not have the money to offer me a paid internship. A few months later (August) one of the senior civil servants called to let me know that they had money to offer for internships and would I be interested. The work involved was very interesting and was strongly linked in with my PhD.

Can you explain what your role was and what your work involved?

The work varied but was centred on two of the government Task Forces which had just come to an end. My responsibilities included '

• Providing support to the Assistant Directors to compile the Government responses, working with key stakeholders, colleagues and Ministers;
• Developing a communications plan for the launch of the Government response, in conjunction with BIS press office;
• Planning, organising and running a launch event and;
• Taking forward an Olympics event and compiling information.

Does this feed into your PhD research?

This most definitely fed into my PhD as the premise of my PhD is 'how does government formulate enterprise policy in the UK?' The internship gave me an insight into the daily workings of policy and those involved in the formulation. It allowed me to see the people involved and their responsibilities in the field of policy.

How valuable was this internship for you?

The internship was great and the people were fantastic to work with. I thoroughly enjoyed my time and was grateful for their support. I have also learnt more about the formulation and implementation of enterprise policy within a government department, which has helped to build upon and enhance my research knowledge and expertise. It also allowed me to gain first-hand experience on the processes and procedures followed to produce evidence based policies and support programmes. Also, this opportunity allowed me to build stronger links with both academics and policy-makers in the enterprise arena.