Dr Cassie Curryer from the University of Newcastle has been awarded the Hal Kendig Prize for the Best CEPAR PhD Thesis in 2019 for her thesis ‘Baby Boomer Women Ageing in Place: Childlessness, Social Policy and Housing in Australia’, under the supervision of CEPAR Associate Investigator Professor Julie Byles and Emeritus Professor Mel Gray.
“Cassie’s thesis addresses an important issue and at the time of submitting her thesis, she had already published two peer-review papers and given three conference presentations from this work,” said her supervisor Professor Julie Byles.
The research provides insight into women ageing in place and has implications for social policy and housing in Australia.
Her nomination noted that her thesis was ‘socially relevant and timely’ and that the thesis impressed the examiners with its ‘excellent literary style, rigorously executed research and excellent mastery of qualitative, and social constructionist inquiry approach’.
“I feel very honoured to receive this prize, and I would like to thank my supervisors and the committee,” said Dr Cassie Curryer.
Dr Cassie Curryer is a Research Fellow with the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Newcastle. An experienced qualitative and multidisciplinary researcher, Cassie's interests include health and ageing, social policy, housing (person-environment), human services, consumer choice and risk.
She has previously collaborated on projects for the World Health Organisation and Sax Institute and is the recipient of the University of Newcastle 2015 Vice-Chancellor's Award for Most Outstanding Research Candidate.
The prize is awarded as a commemoration of Professor Hal Kendig, who was a Chief Investigator in CEPAR, and an important influence on the policy debate around ageing in Australia and internationally.
Publications
Curryer, C., Gray, M., & Byles, J. E. (2018): Back to my Old Self and Life Restarting: Biographies of Ageing in Beck’s Risk Cociety. Journal of Sociology, 54:2, 249–263.
Curryer, C., Gray M., & Byles, J.E. (2018): Older Women’s Expectations of Care, Reciprocity, and Government Support in Australia. ‘Am I Not Worthy?’. Ethics and Social Welfare, 12:3, 259-271.