PhD Researcher in Sociology

Post Status: 48 Months, Full-time 

Starting Date: September 2026 

Department/Faculty: Department of Sociology, School of Social Science and Philosophy 

Reports to (supervisor): Assistant Professor Joonghyun Kwak 

Location: Trinity College Dublin (Dublin, Ireland) 

Stipend: Maintenance stipend of €18,500 per annum, research allowance of €500 per annum, and full tuition fees (EU/non-EU). On top, the department offers teaching assistantship as non-stipend pay. 

Closing Date: 1 May 2026 (23:00 GMT)

Post Summary 

Doctoral Researcher in Sociology 

The Department of Sociology at Trinity College Dublin invites applications for one fully funded doctoral position in the PhD in Sociology programme for a period of 48 months. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to design and carry out an innovative PhD project titled ‘Meritocracy as Political Culture: A Comparative Analysis of Structures, Attitudes, and Meanings,’ which examines meritocracy as a dynamic political culture that responds to structural transformations and shapes political attitudes in systematic ways. 

Meritocracy is widely regarded as a core principle of a fair society, based on the idea that individuals should be rewarded according to their talent and effort rather than their family background. In principle, this ideal promotes equality of opportunity and intergenerational mobility. However, a growing body of research highlights the paradoxical role of meritocratic beliefs in legitimising existing inequalities. As a dominant cultural framework, meritocratic ideals encourage individuals to interpret wealth and poverty as fair outcomes of ability and effort, thereby normalising unequal social structures and reinforcing liberal notions of individual responsibility. 

Recent political developments in the United States and Europe suggest that the public legitimacy of meritocratic ideals may be increasingly fragile. Despite expanding access to education, the promise of upward mobility through individual effort appears less attainable for many. This widening gap between meritocratic ideals and lived experience may undermine trust in liberal institutions and contribute to political discontent, including resentment toward elites as well as hostility toward immigrants and minority groups. In this context, the project explores how meritocratic culture is formed, how it shapes exclusionary political attitudes, and why its political consequences vary across national contexts.

The PhD project will combine multiple methodological approaches. Cross-national macrolevel data will be used to examine the structural conditions under which meritocratic culture emerges and intensifies, while cross-national survey data will analyse the relationship between meritocratic climate and individuals’ exclusionary attitudes, including anti-immigrant and anti-minority sentiments. In addition, the project will draw on qualitative interviews conducted in Ireland and South Korea to explore how individuals interpret the meaning of merit and meritocracy in different national contexts.

Applicant Profile 

Applicants should have a strong interest in the project topic and be highly motivated to pursue independent research. A solid background in quantitative and statistical methods is essential, including experience with statistical software such as Stata, R, or Python.

 Applicants should be comfortable working with formal analytical frameworks and conducting cross-national research using survey and macro-level data. Experience with panel and/or multilevel modelling is particularly desirable. While the project is primarily quantitative in orientation, it also incorporates qualitative components; applicants with an interest in mixedmethods approaches to substantive sociological questions are therefore especially encouraged to apply. 

Major research activities conducted by the candidate will involve (1) collaborating closely with your research supervisor; (2) becoming familiar with the main theoretical debates in the field by engaging in a systematic reading of the literature and writing a state-of-the-art literature review for your project; (3) becoming proficient in working with cross-national survey and macro-level panel data; (4) conducting advanced statistical analyses to test alternative theory derived hypotheses; (5) summarizing and interpreting your findings for a social science audience and developing policy implications; (6) presenting work at international academics conferences or networks in the field; (7) preparing research papers and submitting them to pertinent academic journals. 

We are looking for enthusiastic PhD candidates who would like to acquire high-level training in sociology and in writing a cutting-edge PhD dissertation at TCD Sociology. 

Qualifications 

• MA, MSc or MPhil degree in Sociology, Social Research, Social Policy or in any cognate fields.