Behavioural Scientist | Evaluation & Insight Manager at Cycling UK 

Why did you study psychology at queens? 

I remember visiting Queens for the first time with my dad, when I was still 17. Between the plane and the bus trip it had hailed, rained and then turned explicitly sunny in the space of about 20 minutes. So my first bemused experience of Belfast weather was pretty accurate in terms of its volatility. I’d got the plane over from London, driving up from Kent where my family lived. Which is about as far as you can get from Belfast in terms of the UK. I was nervous about being so far away from my family for the first time, but the warmth of the people I met that day set a tone for my whole experience at Queen’s.

What was your favourite area to study at Queen’s? 

My favourite memory of studying psychology at Queens was learning about social learning theory and the theories around behaviour. My interest in understanding behaviour stuck with me to the point where I completed a MSc. Behaviour Change at UCL three years ago (2020), where I learnt more around the science of changing behaviour and how to apply it. Without my foundational understanding of psychology from Queen’s I would not have discovered this passion for using psychological insights to change behaviour. 

What did you learn from your modular placement? 

My placement was with an insurance company, as a customer service quality intern. Through this placement I got the chance to run my own project, collect data and present the results to stakeholders. I’d recommend any student at Queens take the opportunity to get some real-life experience included in your degree. On the job experience in invaluable when it comes to applying for jobs, not only for getting work but more importantly for working out what you want to work in and what you don’t. 

I took a similar process throughout my career, trialling and testing my way into areas that really interest me. Your work takes up a significant amount of your life, so you should not feel forced to stay in a line of work when it isn’t really for you. Every single one of you is a valuable asset to a company and they’d be lucky to have you. This is very often forgotten by candidates in the interview process, but you are also interviewing them! 

My current role 

Behavioural science is an applied method of using research findings and understanding about how people “work” to help improve their lives through positive behaviour change. It involves acknowledging that there is often a gap between a person’s intention to act and their actual behaviour. For example, we may want to go to the gym three times a week, but do we? Human’s more often than not act irrationally, we are driven by social, environmental cues as well as our own capability and motivation. 

I now work for a charity aimed at getting the UK active population travelling as much as possible. Active travel not only helps to reduce emissions, but it also improves the health and well-being of those that do it. 

At Cycling UK, one part of my role involves working to apply behavioural insights to help get people cycling. Using psychological principles and then applying behaviour change methods and techniques can take many forms.  So far I have evaluated a programme to identify its underlying behaviour change techniques, created an interactive card game to encourage understanding of this, helped design an e-cycles loan programme, improve survey responses, data collection and a whole host of other projects focused on behaviour. 

My role also involves creating research for clients such as our recent piece exploring the barriers and enablers to children cycling and we discovered the vastly positive impact this had on the lives of their parents, particularly on their time and resources. I use the principles of quantitative and qualitative research that I started learning at Queen’s every day. 

Any advice for Queen’s psychology students? 

Finally, my advice to those at Queen’s is to enjoy yourself! Follow your interests and use the time you have to read about anything that interests you, it will all help you figure out what you are driven by. I made lifelong friendships, not to mention meeting my partner at Queen’s and enjoyed my experience thoroughly!

Connect with Kezia on LinkedIn

Profile submitted April 2023.