Jill Dickinson

Associate Professor within the School of Law at the University of Leeds, and Senior Fellow of Advance HE.

Hi Everyone,

I’m Jill Dickinson, and I’m an Associate Professor within the School of Law at the University of Leeds, and Senior Fellow of Advance HE.

Before moving into academia, I spent 10 years as a solicitor, and particularly enjoyed working with trainee solicitors and work placement students. Seeing them progress in their careers inspired my career move into academia where I act as a mentor for a number of programmes, and enjoy working with colleagues, students, and external partners to develop collaborative initiatives around teaching and learning, research, and/or employability. One particular example is the Freshfields Stephen Lawrence Scheme.

My research draws on creative methods (for example, artefacts) to explore place-making and professional development. Example projects include:

Alongside my roles as PG supervisor and examiner, I also enjoy working with PGRs to co-create new initiatives to support the development of the research environment. These include the development of an externally-funded, University-wide PG Research Showcase and Poster competition and leading a steering group on the creation of a new institutional Research Mentoring Framework.

Recent Publications

Dickinson J, Ferris K, Marson J. 2022. Students as researchers: the effects of employing law students on an empirical research project. The Law Teacher. 56(2), pp. 158-170

Dickinson J, Fowler A, Griffiths T-L. 2022. Pracademics? Exploring transitions and professional identities in higher education. Studies in Higher Education. 47(2), pp. 290-304

Dickinson J, Griffiths T-L, Austen L. 2022. Collaborative methodological reflection: Disrupting the ethical practices of a creative method in higher education research. Social Research Practice.

Griffiths T-L, Dickinson J, Day CJ. 2021. Exploring the relationship between extracurricular activities and student self-efficacy within university. Journal of Further and Higher Education. 45(9), pp. 1294-1309

Griffiths T-L, Dickinson J, Fletcher A. 2021. case study of student learning spaces during the pandemic. Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice. 9(2), pp. 77-81

Marson J, Dickinson J, Ferris K, Dickinson S. 2021. Regulating Connected and Autonomous Vehicles Through a Lens of Inclusivity. City University of Hong Kong Law Review.

Marson J, Ferris K, Dickinson J. 2020. The Automated and Electric Vehicles Act 2018 Part 1 and Beyond: A Critical Review. Statute Law Review. 41(3), pp. 395-416

Dickinson J, Griffiths T-L, Bredice A. 2020. ‘It’s just another thing to think about’: encouraging students’ engagement in extracurricular activities. Journal of Further and Higher Education. , pp. 1-14

Dickinson J. 2019. Quasi-Public Place-Governance: An Exploration of Shopping Centres. Business Law Review. 40(Issue 4), pp. 161-169

Dickinson J, Marson J. 2019. Greenspace Governance: Statutory Solutions from Scotland?. Statute Law Review. 40(2), pp. 175-187

Dickinson J, Bennett E, Marson J. 2019. Challenges facing green space: is statute the answer?. Journal of Place Management and Development. 12(1), pp. 121-138

Dickinson J, Wyton P. 2019. Urban greenspace quandaries: Can systems thinking offer any solutions?. People, Place and Policy Online. 12(3), pp. 167-187

Heap V, Dickinson J. 2018. Public Spaces Protection Orders: a critical policy analysis. Safer Communities. 17(3), pp. 182-192

Dickinson J, Griffiths T-L. 2017. Building bridges. Industry and Higher Education. 31(4), pp. 227-238

Bleasdale Hill LK, Dickinson J. 2016. ‘Dangerous dogs’: different dog, same lamppost?. Journal of Criminal Law. 80(1), pp. 64-76

Dickinson J. 2016. How To Save Our Town Centres : A radical agenda for the future of high streets – Book review. Web Journal of Current Legal Issues.

Dickinson J, Griffiths T-L. 2015. Embedding employability and encouraging engagement with PDP/careers:. Student Engagement and Experience Journal. 4(1)

Dickinson J, Nicholson A. 2015. Supreme Court Closes Another Vicarious Liability Loophole: Woodland v Swimming Teachers Association. European Journal of Current Legal Issues. 21(2)

Dickinson J. 2014. Mark Davys,Land Law. The Law Teacher. 48(1), pp. 121-123

Dickinson J. 2014. Open Season for Burglar Battering: Is it time to check in with the civil courts. Journal of Personal Injury Law.

Latest Project

Professional Development: As a former practitioner, I research aspects of professional development including the navigation of career transitions between practice and academia (‘pracademia’), staff/student experiences of the blended learning environment, and the development of students’ self-efficacy, for example through engagement with extra-curricular activities. This research has directly led to collaborations including the establishment of the online Pracademia Network with Advance HE Connect, a new cross-instititional, interdisciplinary higher education research and practice cluster, and the establishment of an Annual Connecting with Professional Practice Conference and associated funding streams.

Law and place: My research explores law’s manifestations across the private/public place spectrum. These include the home, shopping centres, greenspaces, and town and city centres, and the issues created by the blurred boundaries that can characterise them. This research has led to initiatives including the ESRC-funded launch of the Public Urban Green Space Group as part of the Festival of Social Sciences; supervising doctoral research (including securing funding for a Doctoral Training Alliance PhD Studentship relating to public spaces protection orders, and in conjunction with Liberty); and securing research funding from organisations including the Oak Foundation and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Research Trust, now the Property Research Trust.