Dr Jane Hernon is an Associate Professor in Social Work Social at the University of East Anglia. Appointed as lecturer in 2016, she has  over a decade of experience as a social work educator and researcher. Jane holds a BA (Hons) degree in Geography from the University of Cambridge, an MSc in Applied Social Sciences and Diploma in Social Work from the University of Oxford and was awarded her PhD from the University of East Anglia in 2019. She has been a Fellow of the Higher Education Authority since 2021.

Jane is currently Course Director for the MA in Social Work and MA Social Work Apprenticeship. In her teaching practice, Jane has worked extensively with apprentices and employer partners, having led the design and delivery of UEA’s BA and MA Social Work Apprenticeship programmes since 2022. Her work on UEA’s Apprenticeship Enhancement Project (OfS, 2023–24) expanded apprentice numbers and employer partnerships, and established links with regional strategic partnerships involved in promoting widening participation.

Jane’s academic expertise includes the design and delivery of social work education including Social Work Degree Apprenticeships and social work practice with disabled children and young people, particularly those at risk of going missing or experiencing criminal and sexual exploitation.

Jane has expertise in inclusive and participatory qualitative research methodologies and is passionate about promoting the participation of disabled people with wide ranging communication needs in research  and in social work practice,

Jane has served as co-investigator on qualitative and mixed-methods research on a range of topics funded by the NIHR, What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care, Suffolk and Norfolk Social Work Teaching Partnership, Norfolk Police, and as an expert adviser on DfE-funded research.

Jane is currently co-investigator on funded research exploring the role of Artificial Intelligence in Social Work Education and Practice in the East of England and on Missing Young People’s pathways through education, social care, justice and health.