Social sciences and public policy news

Former refugee now Ivy League student

Algorithm predicts child injuries

The economics during lockdown

Digital contact tracing for COVID-19

Lessons From NZ’s Bubbles For The World

NZ’s COVID-19 budget and climate change

Bursting the bubble fallacy

Call for better oversight of aged care

Screening tool in Netflix documentary

Undergraduate wins best political essay

New Year Honours for AUT academic

Call for a diverse national forest

MPs failing to lead on human rights

Diversity stalls on boards

Ten ways to tackle hate

AUT a 5-star university across all categories

Māori women who commit crime demonised

An inspiring and influential woman

Online voting won’t engage more youth

Universities shouldn't host untruths

CSDA presents at D4GX

My generation has failed young Kiwis

How to limit climate change push back

Most Kiwis know climate change is here

Politicians must do more to earn trust

AUT moves up 50 places in world rankings

Unpaid work should be counted

19 first in family scholarships awarded

Party politics in local elections

Ethnic disparities in child protection

Climate emergency? Try revolution

AUT awards five Professors Emeriti

NZ has dethroned GDP as a measure of success, but will Ardern's government be transformational?

Reflecting two months after the shooting

Unequal access to fertility treatment

Economics Professor to lead the social sciences

The Political Years

Full scholarship to study fertility

62% increase in AUT researchers

Giving women real choices

Christchurch

Farewell to Professor Ian Shirley

Celebrating AUT through the years

Gaining skills for the workplace

Five AUT Marsden Fund grants

New Professors and Associate Professors announced

AUT awards Emeritus Professor

Minister launches sustainable blueprint

THE rankings place AUT in NZ top three

AUT 2019 domestic and international fees

Academia enhances social change tools

Academic discusses racism complaints

AUT grad interns with the United Nations

First national inquiry breaks the silence around family violence in the Pacific

Tagaloatele Professor Peggy Fairbairn-Dunlop at AUT is one of four commissioners appointed to oversee Samoa’s national inquiry into family violence..

Auckland: Unsafe, polluted, discriminatory

Aucklanders are significantly more likely than other New Zealanders to be the victims of burglary and vehicle offences and although Auckland’s overall crime rate is decreasing, too many Aucklanders continue to feel unsafe.

Musician Tommy Nee releases single to raise awareness of youth homelessness

Vodafone Pacific Music Award’s most promising artist of 2017 Tommy Nee has written a song for the Lifewise Big Sleepout campaign with all the funds raised from downloads going towards ending youth homelessness.

Preventing Tongan youth suicide

AUT research students launch New Zealand’s first evidence-based resource for Pacific suicide prevention.

Professor Judy McGregor: More progress on women's rights needed

Women’s discontent with gender inequality is on the rise. Today (March 8th) thousands of women will celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD). It will be a bitter sweet celebration. We will welcome women’s increasing advancement in education, health, and the workplace. But we will also lament stalled progress on gender equality in New Zealand at a time when women globally are knitting pink “pussy hats” and have taken protest back to the streets.

Book highlights growing gaps in New Zealand’s human rights record

A new book from Professor Judy McGregor describes New Zealand as “worryingly self-satisfied about its human rights record” despite some major shortcomings.

AUT Professor Judy McGregor named supreme winner at 2016 Women in Governance Awards

AUT Professor Judy McGregor is the winner of this year’s ‘Supreme Award in Governance’ at the Women in Governance Awards, announced at an awards dinner last night [Thursday, 30 June].

World Refugee Day: Time to debunk myths and welcome refugees to NZ

Debunking myths about refugees is AUT senior lecturer Maria Hayward’s goal for World Refugee Day [June 20] this year.

Hayward, who is director of the Centre for Refugee Education [Mangere, Auckland], says there is a huge amount of misinformation about refugees and their lives here in New Zealand.

Symposium on transforming south Auckland

Transforming south Auckland’s social and economic future is the focus of a symposium hosted by the Auckland University of Technology’s South Campus and Auckland Council’s Southern Initiative this month.

Opinion: Devastating refugee photos not telling the full story

Maria Hayward is a senior lecturer at AUT’s Centre for Refugee Education – part of the Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre that helps prepare refugees for life in New Zealand.

International book prize a “career highlight” for AUT Associate Professor

A prestigious international literary prize has been awarded to AUT Associate Professor Sharyn Graham Davies for her work editing a book which explores sex and sexuality in Indonesia.

Professor of Pacific Studies receives national honour

Tagaloatele Professor Peggy Fairbairn-Dunlop was appointed a companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit at an investiture ceremony at Government House last week.

Three minutes to impress

Congratulations to the winners of the 2015 Doctoral and Masters Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competitions: PhD candidate Kudakwashe Tuwe and Master of Sport and Exercise student Samuel Paterson.

An agenda for change

Professor Judy McGregor, Head of School of Social Sciences and Public Policy at AUT University and former Equal Opportunities Commissioner at the Human Rights Commission, says New Zealand is a country in denial. We have a self-image of ourselves as inherently good and a political narrative that positions New Zealand as a global human rights leader – but it’s a narrative that suffers under scrutiny.

NZ welfare model not recommended

The Australian government is considering social welfare reform but in this opinion piece written for the Australian website The Conversation, AUT social science lecturer Michael Fletcher warns against the adoption of New Zealand’s reform model.

Opinion: Rethink needed for Samoan language survival

While New Zealand celebrates Samoan Language Week from 24-30 May, we also need to think about how we can best ensure the survival of the language, says Salainaoloa Wilson, a PhD student in the School Social Sciences and Public Policy at Auckland University of Technology.

Opinion: Hidden dangers of the generic ‘he’

The use of the generic ‘he’ can be seen across many levels of New Zealand society, and this impacts on what we expect of our young girls and boys, writes Sharyn Davies, Associate Professor in the School of Social Sciences and Public Policy at AUT University.

The humble cuppa - a symbol of diminishing rights?

By Professor Judy McGregor, head of the School of Social Sciences and Public Policy at Auckland University of Technology

New Zealand’s human rights reputation at risk

A report on the status of human rights in New Zealand says serious fault lines are developing and that the country’s reputation as a global leader is at risk.

Women’s rights then and now – are we falling behind?

New Zealand was the first country to give women the vote and we have always regarded ourselves as a leader in giving equal rights to women. To mark International Women’s Day, AUT’s Professor Marilyn Waring recently spoke at Parliament, comparing women rights in the 1970s to now and asking whether we are falling behind.

New book integral to promoting Pacific research

A new book edited by Auckland University of Technology (AUT) Professor of Pacific Studies Tagaloatele Peggy Fairbairn-Dunlop, and University of Auckland Associate Professor Eve Coxon brings together the work of Pacific researchers across New Zealand universities

AUT academic first Kiwi for Cambridge position

AUT University anthropology lecturer Sharyn Graham Davies is off to Cambridge University as New Zealand’s first recipient of a Leverhulme visiting professorship.

Putting human rights into social protection

Policy-makers and development practitioners have a new tool to help them devise dynamic social protection programmes - a book co-authored by AUT’s Professor Marilyn Waring.

Inspirational scholar recognised with Prime Minister’s Award

Edmond Fehoko believes in the transformative power of education – he has seen it in his own life and now helps other students to experience it too.

AUT awarded by exercise professionals

AUT has been awarded for its significant contribution to the exercise profession and for being the largest provider of graduates to the fitness industry at the 2013 New Zealand Fitness Awards.

AUT leads largest Trans-Tasman teleworking survey

AUT women of influence

AUT University’s Professor Marilyn Waring from the School of Social Sciences and Public Policy, and Director of Business Relations – International and Engagement, Sarah Trotman have been named as finalists in the inaugural New Zealand Women of Influence Awards.  Winners are due to be announced on 23 October.

Fulbright Award a lifetime honour for AUT anthropologist

AUT anthropologist Associate Professor Sharyn Graham Davies says the Fulbright New Zealand Travel Award she received this month, will be an honour for life.

Davies combines lecturing in the School of Social Sciences and Public Policy with an active programme of research currently focusing on procedural justice in Indonesia.

Pacific focus for new gambling research

The most detailed study to date of Pacific people’s gambling and the impacts of problem gambling in New Zealand has been carried out by AUT University researchers.

The study was commissioned by the Ministry of Health to improve understanding of the impact of gambling on Pacific people, inform risk factors and better understand causes of problem gambling.

New book gives an insider's view of Asian and Pacific cities

A deeper understanding of Asian and Pacific cities and the economic development of countries in the region will only come from understanding the social foundations of development, says AUT’s Professor Ian Shirley.

Facial recognition technology: evaluation will be crucial

Professor Max Abbott, director of AUT University’s Gambling and Addictions Research Centre, has commended Mayor Len Brown and SkyCity on the decision to trial facial recognition technology to identify banned problem gamblers.

“No other casino in the world has introduced facial recognition technology, electronic monitoring and ‘pre-commitment’ to time and/or expenditure limits together.  It is ground-breaking and could raise the bar across all gambling settings and forms,” Professor Abbott said.

Domestic violence online tool

AUT researchers are looking for women to participate in the isafe study, a new online research study to assist women living with partner violence to make good safety planning decisions for themselves and their children.

New Pacific Journalism Review challenges Pacific censorship, political 'shackles'

Fiji’s brand of post-coup media censorship and other Pacific political curbs have been challenged in the latest Pacific Journalism Review.

“Even if the Fiji media are shackled, conferences in 2010 and 2012 provided opportunity and space to engage in some open dialogue, including criticism of the regime authorities,” the AUT-published international journal says.

Students get first experience of NZ camp

When an experience is described as “the best weekend of my life” you know it was success.

36,000 new brain injuries in NZ each year, incidence at “epidemic proportions”

The number of people with traumatic brain injuries in New Zealand is at “epidemic proportions” according to the lead investigator of a study published today in the international medical journal The Lancet.

Sistema Aotearoa making a difference in the lives of children- AUT report

An AUT University report evaluating the Sistema Aotearoa programme has discovered that the programme has not only enjoyed a successful initial year, it is also having a marked effect on the participating children, their families and the Otara community.

Tension in the inner city

Our Auckland inner city residents love and respect the area they live in, and wish visitors to their ‘space’ did too.

AUT student chosen to represent New Zealand at APEC

Melody Cooper has a desire to shape what the future of the world will look like; so it’s appropriate then that come November she has the opportunity to start that journey.

New book about surviving a thesis by those who know best

A fresh and real experience of students’ journeys through their PhD or Masters thesis forms the basis of a new book by Professor Marilyn Waring and Professor Kate Kearins from AUT University.

Professor awarded with Honorary Degree from Scotland

AUT University’s Professor Marilyn Waring has been awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters from an international university.

AUT National Creative Writing Competition winners announced

The AUT New Zealand Creative Writing Competition drew hundreds of entries from all over the country with winners announced recently.

The impact of privatisation

An international expert is coming to New Zealand to talk through the pros and cons of privatisation in the wake of the Prime Minister's comments around selling off some of the countrys' assets.

Minister impressed with Maori Social Science agenda

A speech from Maori Party Co-Leader, the Hon Tariana Turia, to open the Maori Association of Social Science (MASS) conference, suggested there was a fascinating array of topics close to the hearts of Maori social scientists.

Still in first Gair

In his early 80s the Hon George Gair could have happily sat back and reflected on his years.As a former member of Parliament, North Shore City mayor, high commissioner to London and once upon a time a journalist, he has much to reflect on.

Why we sound like Americans when we sing

It’s really not even an American accent it’s a ‘pop music’ accent that we sing with. The American accent has been associated so consistently with pop music that it has come to be the norm. Even some of New Zealand’s greatest artists, such as Dave Dobbyn and Crowded House, sing with the pop music accent.

How to stay safe from scams

The busty blonde Russian woman you met online who needs to borrow money for emergency surgery could well be a West African man trying to dupe you out of your life savings.

New Zealand's number 1 child advocate

He was the first ever appointed Children’s Commissioner in New Zealand, played a major part in a world-first cot death study and has just received a reward from the UN for his work with children. If ever there was a child advocate who walked the talk, Dr Ian Hassall is him.