Are you a critical thinker and interested in how private, for-profit actors intervene in healthcare and healthcare work? Do you enjoy unraveling complex socio-economic and technical systems? Are you interested in understanding societal transitions, and do you have a background in Sociology, Political science, Anthropology, Science and Technology Studies, or do you have a similar background in Social Sciences? Then, you are cordially invited to apply for a PhD position at Erasmus University Rotterdam and the Sustainable Healthcare and Workforce research group within Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management.

Erasmus School of Health Policy and Management (ESHPM) is making a substantial investment in research and teaching into the theme of Sustainable Healthcare and Workforce, which includes the offering of a fully funded, four-year PhD-position. This PhD project will specifically look at the assetization of care, and how for-profit healthcare providers gain power in contemporary health systems and impact professional work, existing governance arrangements and value regimes in healthcare.

Job description
Private, for-profit healthcare agencies are gaining power in contemporary health systems around the world. In the post-pandemic era and against the backdrop of fast rising workforce shortage levels, national governments increasingly welcome them for ‘quick and innovative solutions’ to pressing collective concerns and policy needs. Examples include the role of for-profit providers in addressing long waiting lists for hospital or nursing home care, health care deserts in more rural areas, and the development of digital infrastructures to enable technology-driven home care or self-employment of healthcare professionals. Even though private organizations have always been central to the Dutch healthcare system, now for-profit actors and internationally operating enterprises (‘private equity’) are moving in, introducing alternative ordering logics, valuation instruments and value regimes that are hardly understood in the healthcare context. This assetization of care may have far-reaching consequences for quality of care, working conditions and access to care. The PhD position focuses on this changing political economy of healthcare.

In this position, the PhD student will study the rather new phenomenon of assetization of care, in which health services are turned into assets to generate revenues for a wide range of actors. The focus will be on healthcare work and care provision. The PhD student will both empirically explore and theoretically conceptualize the assetization of care, using digital and ethnograph research methods. Case studies include the financial, technical and social infrastructures of care assetization, and will be selected together with the supervising team. The supervising team is a multidisciplinary team of sociological and economic scientists, as we aim to conduct transdisciplinary research to gain in-depth understanding of the current assetization movement.

Project aims and objectives:
This PhD position is part of a new and transdisciplinary research programme on Workforce and Sustainability in Health Care within ESHPM. The focus on assetization of care and the consequences for healthcare work and care delivery is one of the core research themes within this programme. In addition to developing PhD research, the PhD student will participate in broader research and teaching activitities to build and foster the Workforce and Sustainability Theme (e.g. participating in research seminars, developing panels for international conferences, developing courses for ESHPM students and post-academic training). Regarding the PhD project, the PhD student will be responsible for reviewing and synthesizing conceptual literature as well as designing an empirical study, collecting and analyzing qualitative data, and writing up research articles. The PhD project may include an international component as care assetization occurs across boarders.

Supervising team
Th primary supervisor will be Iris Wallenburg, professor in the Sociology of Care. Other members will be a researcher with expertise in critical sociology and a researcher with expertise in health economics. The PhD student will be part of a core team of two PhD candidates, two senior academics (Iris Wallenburg and Yiannis Kyratsis) who co-lead the Theme of Sustainable Healthcare and Workforce, and a broader academic community of scholars from various disciplines who are involved in research related to the Sustainable Healthcare and Workforce theme. This PhD student will be embedded in the department of Healthcare Governance, which is one of the seven departments in ESHPM and has a vibrant PhD community with regular research seminars

Essential

• Holding (or close to completing) a Master’s degree in: Sociology, Political Science, Organization Studies, Communication Science, Science & Technology Studies, or another relevant Master’s degree.
• Strong qualitative research competence and analytical skills.
• Excellent verbal and writing skills in English (Proficiency or C1 level), preferably also in Dutch.
• Being a team player and developing into a good academic citizen who is willing to contribute to the interdisciplinary research agenda of Sustainable Healthcare and Workforce within ESHPM.
• Demonstrating an ability and desire to work independently, with supervisory support, to develop an independent piece of research.
• Intellectual openness and willingness to be an active member of multicultural and disciplinary teams, working collaboratively.

As a PhD student at ESHPM, your primary duty will be to conduct research. In the process, you will be given plenty of opportunity to work on your personal development, e.g., by attending relevant courses and attending national and international conferences. In addition, you will be given some teaching duties, which take up on average 15% of your time in a given academic year.

We offer you an internationally oriented and varied job in an enthusiastic team, with excellent working conditions in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU).

The start date of this position is 01-SEP-2024 and you will be based at Campus Woudestein in Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management (ESHPM). This position is for 0.8 fte - 1 fte. The salary ranges from a minimum of € 2.770 to a maximum of € 3.539 gross per month Scale PhD on a fulltime basis (38 hours), in accordance with the CAO-NU. The contract is entered into for the duration of 18 months.

Everything else we offer you, you can find below!

• Everything you need for a good work-life balance: the option to work from home in consultation with your manager, 41 days of paid leave with a 40 hour contract, 8% holiday pay and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus, and a significant discount on a subscription for our on-campus sports centre!
• Sustainable, inclusive and diverse work environment with an open culture, where you can be yourself and we pay attention to each other and to the world around us. Make the most of our bicycle budget, or join networks such as Young@EUR, FAME or QuEUR.
• Time and space for your development in the broadest sense: development days and a personal career budget and free access to our university library.
• Good pension with ABP that EUR contributes 2/3rds towards, discounts on various collective insurances with Zilveren Kruis Achmea, Loyalis, and Allianz, and compensation for travel, working from home and home internet use.
• Are you currently combining your job with parenthood, or do you want to do so in the future? EUR offers partially paid parental leave and fully paid additional birth leave for partners, and our campus features a daycare (daycare not paid for by EUR).
• Moving to the Netherlands for your job with EUR? Then you may be eligible for the 30%-ruling if you meet the requirements of the Belastingdienst (Dutch tax agency), and with our Dual Career Programme we will also help your partner find the right job for them.

Erasmus University Rotterdam

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) is an internationally oriented university with a strong social orientation in its education and research, as expressed in our mission ‘Creating positive societal impact’. EUR is home to 4.100 academics and professionals and almost 33.000 students from more than 140 countries. Everything we do, we do under the credo The Erasmian Way – Making Minds Matter. We’re global citizens, connecting, entrepreneurial, open-minded, and socially involved. These Erasmian Values function as our internal compass and create EUR’s distinctive and recognizable profile. From these values, with a broad perspective and with an eye for diversity, different backgrounds and opinions, our employees work closely together to solve societal challenges from the dynamic and cosmopolitan city of Rotterdam. Thanks to the high quality and positive societal impact of our research and education, EUR can compete with the top European universities. www.eur.nl.

Faculty / Institute / Central service
The Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management (ESHPM) is a leading institute based in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, specializing in healthcare policy and management across disciplines like economics, law, socio-medical sciences, organization science, and public administration. Located in the Bayle Building at Erasmus University Rotterdam and closely associated with Erasmus Medical Centre, ESHPM educates about 1,600 students and employs around 200 faculty members. focusing on internationalization and multidisciplinary research.

The HCG section consists of approximately 40 employees with diverse backgrounds in the social sciences, such as public administration, organizational science, anthropology, and science & technology studies. The section focuses on issues related to the governance of and within healthcare, analyzing governance as a multilayered, heterogeneous, and dynamic practice. The section has a strong foundation in healthcare, partly due to its partnerships with key actors in the field, such as the Health and Youth Care Inspectorate (IGJ), the National Healthcare Institute (ZIN), and the Association of Healthcare Executives (NVZD). Additionally, the section has a strong international profile. Employees of the section teach in all programs of ESHPM.