Institute for Social Science Research

Dr Jenny van der Arend

Principal Research Assistant
Institute for Social Science Research
+61 7 334 62433

Researcher Biography

Jenny is a qualified social worker who has over fifteen years of experience as a project and program manager, policy officer and researcher, in government and non-government positions, across a number of social policy sectors in Australia and internationally.

She completed a Master of Social Science by Research at the University of South Australia, and more recently a PhD exploring evidence-based policymaking at the University of Queensland.  Jenny has successfully led on or contributed to research on homelessness, social exclusion and disadvantage, at-risk young people and children, domestic and family violence, criminal justice, disaster management, and public inquiry processes.  More broadly, her recent research has explored themes around research utilisation/impact, participatory policymaking and co-production, positive public administration, and e-governance in public administration. 

Publications

Journal Articles (2)
Conference Papers (2)
Thesis (1)

Journal Articles

Stark, Alastair and van der Arend, Jenny (2023). The traveller's guide to policy learning. Journal of European Public Policy, 1-22. doi: 10.1080/13501763.2023.2243997
van der Arend, Jenny (2014). Bridging the research/policy gap: policy officials' perspectives on the barriers and facilitators to effective links between academic and policy worlds. Policy Studies, 35 (6), 611-630. doi: 10.1080/01442872.2014.971731

Conference Papers

Bell, Jennifer and van der Arend, Jenny (2015). The significance of credibility in influencing the use of social research in policy making. Australian Political Studies Association (APSA) Annual Conference, Canberra, ACT, Australia, 28-30 September 2015.
Bell, Jennifer and van der Arend, Jenny (2013). Bridging the research-policy gap: how better connections between academics and social policy makers can create greater capacity for evidence-based policy making. ASPC 2013: 14th Australian Social Policy Conference, University of New South Wales, Sydney Australia, 16-18 September, 2013. Sydney, NSW, Australia: Social Policy Research Centre.

Thesis

van der Arend, Jenny (2016). Connecting research and policy: how linkages support the use of research evidence in social policymaking. PhD Thesis, School of Political Science and International Studies, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/uql.2016.1128