Professor Dr. Kate Summers

Biography

Kate Summers is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Methodology at the London School of Economics. She completed her PhD in the Department of Social Policy at LSE in 2018 and holds an MSc in Social Policy (Research) from LSE and a BA in Modern History from the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on the experiences and perceptions of poverty and economic inequality, with particular emphasis on social security policy in the UK context. Kate is actively developing qualitative methods for studying social security policy, especially in response to the post-pandemic environment. She is known for her participatory research practices and has been involved in key research projects such as 'Welfare at a (Social) Distance' and 'The Commission on Social Security: Led by experts by experience.' Kate has served as a Fellow in the Department of Methodology from 2018 to 2021, where she focused on combining qualitative methods, including in-depth interviews and focus groups, to gain insights into social policy effects on vulnerable populations.

Research Interests

Experience