Megan Stock

Profile

Academic background

I graduated in 2020 with a First Class Honours in Sociology and Criminology from the University of Portsmouth.

I graduated in 2021 with a Merit in Criminal Justice and Criminal Psychology from the University of Portsmouth.

During my time at the University of Portsmouth, I was a course representative for Sociology and Criminology for two years and I restarted the sociology society along with another course rep. For my work, I was awarded the Outstanding Contribution to the Sociology Community award.

Biography

 

I grew up in a town in Gloucestershire and whilst at school, I started playing the violin from around the age of 7. I was a member of the school orchestra and the Gloucestershire Youth Sinfonia (GYS). As a member of GYS, I participated in regional music competitions and many concerts. I took the opportunity to join a summer workshop for string players across Gloucestershire supported by Nicola Benedetti.  

I joined the University of Portsmouth orchestra and with them I travelled to Spain as part of the Music Society’s tour. As a member, I was also part of a pit orchestra for three years which accompanied the drama society’s musical stage shows. These shows included West Side Story, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella and Orpheus in the Underworld.  

After leaving Portsmouth and returning back to Gloucestershire, I joined The Film Orchestra based in Cheltenham for two years before starting at the University of Leeds.  

Throughout my childhood to adulthood, I have participated in a variety of choirs. This has involved singing as a backing choir for Hayley Westenra and the classical group Blake.  

I am also a keen photographer with my repertoire consisting of but not limited to landscapes, animals and street portraits.  

Between 2016-2023, I was a volunteer for the National Trust based at Croome Court in Worcestershire. Whilst there, I undertook an Extended Project Qualification alongside my A-levels on the Sociology of the History of Croome Court.  

From 2015 to 2017, during the school holiday seasons, I was an arts and crafts assistant at a local school in Gloucestershire for children aged between 4-11.  

To help fund my studies, I was a customer assistant in the Home Delivery/Click and Collect department at Morrisons supermarket between 2020-2023. 

I was an intern at the University of Leeds working on developing PGR facing version of the Opportunities and Futures Strategy and an accompanying video.

Research interests

The task of deciding upon a dissertation topic, and my education is music developed an interest to research the benefits of music for young offenders regarding supporting rehabilitation which was the focus for my BSc dissertation. This interest carried over to my masters where I explored the public perception of music as a rehabilitative tool for offenders. 

My doctoral research keeps with the music theme but I am instead looking at the access to music education regarding children and young people who experience socioeconomic disadvantage and poverty. As I was fortunate to have music tuition, I have experience and an understanding of the benefits and opportunities that a music education can provide and I am of the belief that children and young people should not be denied that access.

My research interests are:

• Music and music education
• Culture and cultural education
• Social, economic and cultural capital
• Access inequalities to music education
• Social class and social inequality
• Social justice
• Rehabilitation of offenders

Qualifications

• BSc (Hons) First Class Sociology and Criminology, University of Portsmouth
• MSc Criminal Justice and Criminal Psychology

Research groups and institutes

• ICY: Inclusion, Childhood & Youth Research Centre
• Centre for Curriculum, Pedagogy and Policy
• Centre for Language Education