Qualitative interviews with third sector employees and volunteers exploring the roles, identities and careers of third sector paid and unpaid workers, as well as third sector work practices more broadly. This Third Sector Research Centre project aimed to contribute to gaps in both the organisational sociology and third sector literature. This was a timely project due to the political and public discourses around notions of ‘big society’ and the need to investigate the experiences of those expected to deliver this vision. The Third Sector Research Centre (TSRC) is a Venture Funded Centre, in partnership with the Office for Civil Society and the Barrow Cadbury Trust. TSRC is based at the University of Birmingham, but is a joint venture with the University of Southampton, with additional contributions from Middlesex and Kent. Research activity includes: (1) Analysis of theoretical issues and development of a critical understanding of the policy environment for the sector. (2) Securing and analysing reliable data about the size, shape, structure and dynamics of the sector - including quantitative data, drawn from administrative sources and large scale surveys, and in-depth qualitative research with a selection of sector organisations. (3) Analysis of the economic and social impact of the sector, including the role of the sector in delivering public services, the development of social enterprise, the role of organisations in the environmental field, and the mapping and analysis of smaller community organisations operating ‘below-the-radar’. Third sector policy has now been devolved to the separate administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and research includes analysis of the impact of this devolution. TSRC also employs a Knowledge Exchange Team to ensure that its work has a direct impact on policy and practice.

Participant observation in 6 organisations across England and Wales for a period of 10 weeks, and 124 interviews with staff and volunteers in those organisations have been conducted to explore how working lives and careers are made in this sector. The 6 organisations have been carefully selected to represent some of the diversity of the sector in terms of size, age, location and sub-sector. The interviews explore (1) career narrative, (2) organisation, (3) politics and values, (4) identity and habitus and (5) space and field.