Dr. Catherine Elliott O'Dare
Assistant Professor, Social Studies

Projects

• Title
  • Ageism and intergenerational relations in the workplace in Sweden and Ireland " a scoping review of extant literature and trade union policy
• Summary
  • 1. Project Aim Populations are ageing, many older workers choose or are mandated to extend their working lives to support pension shortfalls, for life satisfaction or to comply with government policy " the result is that older and younger adults share their working lives for longer periods than ever anticipated. The aim of this project is to perform a scoping review to identify and synthesise extant national and international literature, and the policy landscape in Irish and Swedish main trade union organisations, on the topic of ageism and intergenerational relations in the workplace. What does the empirical evidence/policy tell us about ageism and intergenerational relations in the workplace? What is not known (knowledge gaps) that could inform understanding and policy? 2. Project Objectives " The overall objectives are, firstly to use this scoping review of literature to provide in-depth understanding of the topic to guide the development of honed research questions, a research agenda, and a detailed proposal to inform/ seek funding for a mixed methods research project, to be conducted in Sweden and Ireland. Secondly, the policy landscape review will raise awareness as we will liaise with policy officers in trade unions in relation to ageism and intergenerational relations in the workplace. " The `follow on" research has a working title `Ageism and intergenerational relations in the workplace in Sweden and Ireland". Gatekeepers in both countries have been identified, a mixed methods methodological approach has been sketched i.e., online quantitative surveys ( Jing), one-to-one interviews with employees aged 18 - 30 and 50-upwards, and a small number of interviews with HR executives.
• Funding Agency
  • TRISS Trinity College Dublin
• Date From
  • 7 June 2023
• Date To
  • 30th June 2024

• Title
  • Intergenerational solidarity among LGBT+ communities in Ireland
• Summary
  • Intergenerational solidarity refers to the connectedness and support between people of different generations. This study considers intergenerational to be an age-gap of 15 years or more between cohorts. The COVID-19 pandemic has posed significant disadvantages for LGBT+ older people. Studies have shown that older LGBT+ are significantly more likely to live alone and lack family support network than their non-LGBT+ peers, and much less likely to have children. Support networks are often formed, instead, through membership of LGBT+ communities. Recent studies have highlighted the importance of care practices within LGBT+ communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, in which members of varying generations have worked to provide support to more vulnerable individuals in their communities. This project will investigate the role of such intergenerational solidarity and care among LGBT+ individuals in Ireland
• Funding Agency
  • UCD College of Social Sciences and Law Research Funding Scheme 2022
• Date From
  • March 2022
• Date To
  • September 2023

• Title
  • Bounce Back
• Summary
  • PI's are Christine McGarrigle (Tilda), Virpi Timonen and Catherine Conlon. My role comprises of managing qualitative fieldwork component comprising managing ethics and line management of post-doctoral fellow. This project aims to investigate why some people appear to "bounce back" in their well-being when faced with adversities in old age and which factors at micro-, meso- and macro-levels are protective and associated with higher resilience. The funding/ my role relates to the Irish strand of the study only. The overall project is an EEA multi-national mixed methods study on resilience exploring contextual meanings and mechanisms involved in resilience processes and the variations across subgroups, birth cohorts and societal contexts (Sweden, Ireland, Poland, and Spain, compared with other European countries).
• Funding Agency
  • Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare
• Date From
  • 17/04/2023
• Date To
  • 30/09/2023