Research Assistant

Royal Holloway, University of London; Egham; Hybrid; GBP 35,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading UK university seeks a Research Assistant for a project on gender pay gaps in low-income countries. The role involves data preparation and analysis, supporting research into women's employment. A degree in Economics and research experience are required. This position is full-time for 10 months with a salary of £34,670 per annum, and may offer some remote work options.

Benefits

Generous annual leave entitlement

Training and Development opportunities

Pension Scheme with employer contribution

Cycle to Work scheme

Free parking

Qualifications

• Degree in Economics or related field.
• Experience of independent research.
• Ability to keep accurate records.

Responsibilities

• Clean, standardise, and organise secondary data.
• Create data dictionaries and cleaning codes.
• Assist in data analysis and produce research output.

Skills

Good knowledge of applied econometrics

Experience working with large micro data

Experience using statistical software Stata or R

Strong communication skills

Ability to work independently

Education

Undergraduate degree in Economics

Job description

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Research Assistant

Department of Economics

Location

Egham

Salary

£34,670 per annum - including London Allowance

Post Type

Full Time

Hours per Week

35

Weeks per Year

52

Closing Date

23.59 hours BST on Friday 29 August 2025

Reference

0825-184

Right to work: Please note that it will not be possible for the University to issue a Certificate of Sponsorship to the successful candidate for this position. Therefore, the appointable candidate will need to be eligible to work in the UK or have leave to remain in the UK and associated right to work for the duration of their employment with the University, in accordance with the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006.

Full-Time, Fixed-Term

Applications are invited for the post of Research Assistant (RA) in the Department of Economics.

We are looking for a highly motivated individual to join the research project “Women's employment and family decisions in Sub-Saharan Africa: A structural approach”.

This main goal of this project is to study the gender pay gap and women's employment in low-income countries (LIC), with the particular focus on the importance of family composition and on the role of the public sector. The vast majority of workers in low-income countries (LIC) are engaged in low-productivity self-employment or unpaid family work. This type work is more common among women; moreover, even when working for a wage, women face substantially lower earnings than men with similar characteristics. However, this situation is very different in the public sector - the gender pay gap there is lower and the share of female employment is higher, especially among married women. Jobs in the public sector also offer other amenities, such as security and flexibility, making them more attractive to women with children.

The successful candidate will work closely with Dr Ija Trapeznikova, Dr Ahu Gemici and Prof Juan Pablo Rud. As part of the research team, the RA will work on cleaning, standardising and organising secondary data for a number of developing countries. The data sources are mainly drawn from the household and labour force surveys. The work will include creating data dictionaries and data cleaning codes to ensure reproducibility of the project. The RA will also help in data analysis, producing research output and interpreting the results, as well as activities related to dissemination of the results.

This is a project funded by the IZA/FCDO Programme on Gender, Growth and Labour Markets in Low-Income Countries (G²LM|LIC).

The post is for 10 months, from 1 September 2025 to 30 June 2026.

The successful candidate will possess as many as possible from the following:

• At least an undergraduate degree in Economics,
• Experience of independent research (such as having done an undergraduate or postgraduate dissertation), with research interests in labour markets, family economics and/or development;
• Good knowledge of applied econometrics;
• Experience working with large micro data;
• Experience using statistical software Stata or R, at advanced level is a plus;
• Ability to keep accurate records, strong communication skills, and ability to work independently under regular supervision as well as within a team setting.
  
  

In return we offer a highly competitive rewards and benefits package including:

• Generous annual leave entitlement
• Training and Development opportunities
• Pension Scheme with generous employer contribution
• Various schemes including Cycle to Work, Season Ticket Loans and help with the cost of Eyesight testing.
• Free parking
  
  

The post is based in Egham, Surrey, where the College is situated in a beautiful, leafy campus near to Windsor Great Park and within commuting distance from London.

For an informal discussion about the post, please contact the project PI, Ija Trapeznikova on [e-mail]

For queries on the application process the Human Resources Department can be contacted by email at:[e-mail]

Please quote the reference: 0825-184

Closing Date: 29 August 2025

Interview Date: To be confirmed

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Job share or part-time hours: Applications are welcome from people wishing to job share or work part-time hours.

The university has adopted hybrid working for some roles therefore some remote working may be possible for this role.

Royal Holloway is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), and encourages applications from all people regardless of age, disability, gender, marital status, parental status, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or trans status or history. More information on our structures and initiatives around EDI, including information on staff diversity networks, can be found on our Equality and Diversity Intranet page.