Homerton Junior Research Fellow in Economics, Dr Ines Lee, has won the Bracken Bower Prize 2021 with her book proposal Failing the Class.
Supported by the Financial Times and McKinsey, the prize is awarded to the best business book proposal by an author under 35, “that provides a compelling and enjoyable insight into future trends in business, economics, finance or management.”
The winner was announced last night, at a dinner at the National Gallery.
Ines is working on the book in collaboration with Dr Eileen Tipoe, Senior Lecturer in Economics at Queen Mary University of London. The pair will share prize money of £15,000, and attend a session with publishers where they will receive guidance on making the book a reality.
“We currently have a detailed proposal and a structured outline of each chapter,” explains Ines. “Eileen and I are each working on various research projects, which feed into the book in different ways.”
The book will explore a perceived transition in the purpose of education from an inherent benefit in itself, to a tool for employment, and the impact of this shift on the nature of learning and social cohesion.
Ines and Eileen met at the University of Oxford, where both completed their PhDs in Economics.
“We were always keen to work together. Economics is quite male dominated, so it can be more difficult for women to find collaborators with shared interests, so we were very pleased to get to work with each other.”
Ines attended the awards ceremony with her parents, and received no prior notification that her book had won.
“It’s very lucky that Eileen was so insistent, or it would have even occurred to me to enter! I didn’t get the opportunity to make a speech, but if I had I would have wanted to thank my employer. Without the Junior Research Fellowship, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to think about these issues. It gives you space and time to think.
Also, being in an environment where so many people, Fellows and staff, take the idea of how you teach the next generation seriously, as well as Homerton’s history in teacher training, has definitely influenced the idea for the book.”
Bracken Bower prize 2021: the winners | Financial Times (ft.com)
