Students Needed but Not Wanted

Students Needed but Not Wanted explored different forms of precarity through research, reflection and critical enquiry. As a group, we developed a set of values that became lenses for examining and comparing precarious situations. This process helped us identify recurring themes, organise our findings and define the key questions that shaped the direction of the project. Heitor Laforga, Gabriela Cladellas, Tamara Markey & Sophie Ronan.

Design Research

Industry: Academia

Deliverables:Research ReportDesign ReviewSupporting AssetsRecommendations

Read the Report

The project explores precarity as a condition of insecurity and instability that can affect work, housing, social mobility and wellbeing.

Through the research process, we became particularly interested in how these conditions are experienced by international students living and working in Ireland. The project focused on students studying under Stamp 2 permission, many of whom balance education with part-time employment while navigating insecure work, housing pressures and the wider challenges of establishing a life in a new country. Their experiences became a lens through which we could explore broader questions around migration, labour and inequality.

A design research approach was used to connect individual experiences with the wider political, social and economic systems surrounding them. This helped move the project beyond isolated stories and towards a broader understanding of the conditions that contribute to precarity.

The research was, as a final output, translated into a series of visual outputs designed to make the findings more accessible and encourage discussion. These included a research report and a photographic publication.