Dr Max Richard Ashton

(he/him)

BSc, MSc, PhD

Overview

I joined the Centre for Development, Evaluation, Complexity and Implementation in Public Health Improvement (DECIPHer) in April 2024, as a research assistant supporting the activities of the School Health Research Network (SHRN).

I have a long history as a student at Cardiff University (BSc Human and Social Sciences, MSc Social Science Research Methods, PhD) which began in 2016. My academic background incorporates critical social Psychology and Education, with a specific research focus on school-based relationships and sexuality education (RSE). My PhD research incorporated diverse qualitative methods within a novel ‘post-qualitative’ theoretical approach, to explore Welsh teachers’ and pupils’ experiences of RSE provision during the rollout of the national Curriculum for Wales.

My research interests include gender and sexuality, theorising complexity within organisations, and exploring the processes by which policy is translated into practice in education.