Dr Sinead McMahon

    Applied Social Studies

    Assistant Professor

    Auxilia, North Campus, Maynooth University
    2.3
    (01) 708 3804

    Biography

    I am a professionally qualified youth and community worker. Having spent over 20 years working in Higher Education I joined Maynooth University in 2022 to work as Lecturer/Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Social Sciences. I teach on the professional Community and Youth Work undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and I am one of the programme coordinators for the DSocSc. 

    My research interests include: youth work policy and provision in Ireland; issues in rural youth work; experiences of youth workers and youth work educators; qualitative and transformative evaluation methods; intersections between social policy and youth work practice; critical and poststructural social policy analysis; governmentality perspectives on youth and community work in Ireland; teaching and learning issues in professional education and formation.

    Research Interests

    My research Interests include: Youth work policy and provision in Ireland; issues in rural youth work; experiences of youth workers and youth work educators; qualitative and transformative evaluation methods; intersections between social policy and youth work practice; critical and poststructural social policy analysis; governmentality perspectives on youth and community work in Ireland; teaching and learning issues in professional education and formation.

    Research Projects

    Title Role Description Start date End date Amount
    Youth Worker Experiences of Change in UBU funded Youth Projects PI 01/09/2023 01/09/2024

    Book Chapter

    Year Publication
    2009 Sinead McMahon (2009) 'The Voluntary Youth Work Sector’s Engagement with the State: Implications for Policy and Practice' In: Youth and Community Work in Ireland: Critical Perspectives. Dublin : Blackhall.
    2024 Sinead McMahon, Ciara Bradley and Hilary Tierney (2024) 'Using a Social Justice Lens in Research Engagements for Community Work and Youth Work Practice' In: Rights and Social Justice in Research Advancing Methodologies for Social Change. Bristol : Bristol Policy Press.
    2024 Sinead McMahon (2024) 'Using Poststructural Policy Analysis for Social Justice' In: Rights and Social Justice in Research Advancing Methodologies for Social Change. Bristol : Bristol Policy Press.

    Peer Reviewed Journal

    Year Publication
    2021 Sinead McMahon (2021) 'What’s the problem with Irish youth work?'. YOUTH & POLICY, .
    2011 Sinead McMahon (2011) 'What is Youth Work?: Book Review'. Community Development Journal, 46 (4):590-593.

    Conference Contribution

    Year Publication
    2022 Sinead McMahon and Sasha Noonan (2022) Home is where the heart is: Exploring values and emotional labour at the heart of professional practitioner motivation Home: Sociological Association Annual Conference Limerick, .
    2021 Sinead McMahon (2021) Youth Policy Stories What’s the Story? Narrative Inquiry & Youth Conference Maynooth University, .
    2020 Sinead McMahon (2020) ‘Value for Money’: Using economic evaluation discourse and devices to govern youth work ] British Education and Research Association Seminar: Thinking critically about impact, evaluation and accountability in youth work BERA Online, .
    2019 Sinead McMahon and Sasha Noonan (2019) Re/Forming Irish Youth Work through Policy Framing and Shaming Critical Welfare State Studies Conference University College Cork, .
    2018 Sinead McMahon (2018) Governing Irish Youth Work through Outcomes World Community Development Conference Maynooth University, .
    2024 Sinead McMahon (2024) Pinnacle Youth: Tipperary ETB Conference The Value of Universal Youth Work in Ireland Tipperary, .
    2023 Sinead McMahon (2023) WAterford and Wexford ETB, Rural Youth Work Conference Issues in Rural Youth Work WExford, .
    2023 Sinead McMahon; Maurice Devlin (2023) Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration, and Youth Current Issues Impacting on Irish Youth Work Houses of the Oireachtas, Dublin, . [Link]

    Published Report

    Year Publication
    2014 (2014) Evaluation of the Work Winner Youth Employment Programme: Qualitative Perceptions of Youth Participants. .
    2005 (2005) Good Practice in the Management of Volunteers. .
    2003 (2003) Substance Misuse Needs Analysis: Carrick On Suir. .
    2002 (2002) Cashel Youth Needs Analysis. .
    2001 (2001) Evaluation of the FDYS Community Training Centre. .
    1999 (1999) Evaluation of the Wexford Junior Cycle Completion Programme. .
    1998 (1998) Responding to Early School Leaving in the Wexford Area. .

    Article

    Year Publication
    2022 Sinead McMahon (2022) Stories of Social Justice and Change: Using Biography as Innovative Assessment in Social Policy. [Article]

    Online Database

    Year Publication
    2021 Sinead McMahon; (2021) Using Site Visits in Social Policy. [Online Database]

    Reviews

    Year Publication
    2022 Sinead McMahon; (2022) Ethics, equity and community development. [Reviews] [DOI]
    Certain data included herein are derived from the © Web of Science (2024) of Clarivate. All rights reserved.

    Professional Associations

    Description Function From / To
    Sociological Association of Ireland Member 12/12/2018 -

    Honors and Awards

    Date Title Awarding Body
    01/09/2017 LIT Presidents Scholarship Award LIT

    Committees

    Committee Function From / To
    Tipperary ETB Youth Work Committee Member -
    Youth Work Educators Forum Member -

    Employment

    Employer Position From / To
    Maynooth University 01/08/2022 -
    Technological University of the Shannon Midlands Midwest 01/09/2000 - 01/08/2022
    University College Cork National University of Ireland 01/01/1997 - 01/01/2000

    Education

    Start date Institution Qualification Subject
    National University of Ireland Maynooth DSocSc DSocSc
    Mary Immaculate College PgDip Adult Education Adult & Community Education
    University College Cork National University of Ireland MSocSc Youth & Community Work
    University College Cork National University of Ireland BSocSc Social Policy & Social Work

    Editorial / Academic Reviews

    Amount Role From / To
    Community Development Journal Reviewer -
    Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies Reviewer -

    Teaching Interests

    My teaching areas include: social policy; youth work; practitioner research, evaluation and research; professional practice