Post-Doctoral Researcher Applied Psychology

at  University College Cork

POSITION SUMMARY

Applications are invited from suitably qualified candidates to work on the Trust in FemTech Project.
Recent years have seen a boom in the FemTech industry, with a projected global market value of 29.62 billion by 2032. FemTech promises users a greater insight into their reproductive health, through activities such as menstrual tracking and symptom monitoring. This personal health data can lead to more accurate fertility tracking, and earlier detection of reproductive health disorders at both a personal and public health level (Figueroa et al., 2023). Despite the benefits of FemTech adoption for users, recent years have seen an increase in concern over privacy of FemTech software, both in the literature and media.
Human-Computer Interaction research has further explored user experience of FemTech, detailing how products have limited capabilities for long-term data tracking, missed potential for data-sharing with healthcare professionals and require high levels of digital literacy (Grimme et al., 2024; Jain and Mudlier., 2024). While the majority of research to date has focused on user experience and privacy analysis of FemTech products, an emerging body of work acknowledges the importance of incorporating wider stakeholder perspectives on FemTech research, including FemTech developers (Song et al., 2024) and healthcare professionals (Dixon et al., 2023; Warty et al., 2024). These stakeholders are crucial to ensuring sustained adoption of FemTech within healthcare services and understanding the challenges faced by FemTech innovators in responding to the needs and concerns of users.
The aim of this study is to establish stakeholder priorities related to the adoption of Femtech in women’s health care services in the Irish context, to support sustainable innovation and adoption. The overall objectives are:
1. Establish existing stakeholder perspectives on the challenges in long-term adoption of FemTech.
2. Design and evaluate an intervention to enhance user trust and support further integration of FemTech data into healthcare provision.
3. Disseminate the findings of the study to FemTech developers, users and healthcare providers to support further user adoption and innovation with the FemTech sector.
The successful applicant will work with Dr. Sarah Foley (UCC) in the School of Applied Psychology. Core strengths in Human Computer Interaction would be particularly valuable. However, applications from candidates in cognate areas who make the case in their application for the relevance of their skills and experience to the project are also welcome.
Project Title: Trust in FemTech
Post Duration: 2 Years
Salary: €44,347 - €50,805, (IUA PD1 Salary Scale)
For an information package including further details of the post see https://ore.ucc.ie/
Informal enquiries can be made in confidence to Dr. Sarah Foley, School of Applied Psychology, Tel: + 353 (0) 21 490 4655; Email: sarah.foley@ucc.ie
Applications must be submitted online via the University College Cork vacancy portal (https://ore.ucc.ie/). Queries relating to the online application process should be referred to recruitment@ucc.ie, quoting the job-title and project name.
Candidates should apply, in confidence, before 12 noon (Irish Local Time) on Friday 15th November, 2024.

PLEASE NOTE THAT AN APPOINTMENT TO POSTS ADVERTISED WILL BE DEPENDENT ON UNIVERSITY APPROVAL, TOGETHER WITH THE TERMS OF THE EMPLOYMENT CONTROL FRAMEWORK FOR THE HIGHER EDUCATION SECTOR.

UCC is committed to creating and fully embracing an inclusive environment where diversity is celebrated. As a University we strive to create a workplace that reflects the diversity of our student population where people from a wide variety of backgrounds learn from one another, share ideas, and work collaboratively. UCC is committed to being an employer that recognises the value of diversity amongst its staff. We encourage applicants to consult our policies at https://www.ucc.ie/en/edi/policies/ and initiatives at https://www.ucc.ie/en/edi/implementation/ and we welcome applications from everyone, including those who are underrepresented in the protected characteristics set out in our Equal Opportunities & Diversity Policy.

Please refer the Job description for details