PhD Gender Studies

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Research Opportunities
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Research opportunities

The Gender Studies PhD is an interdisciplinary research area within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, supported by staff from a range of subject areas, including journalism, media and communication, English, French, Italian, history, education, social policy, criminology and politics.

PhD students in Gender Studies are expected to undertake research that results in a thesis which contributes to the wider literature in the field, thereby making an original contribution to current knowledge. Students are also expected to contribute to the Strathclyde Feminist Research Network, which offers a research seminar series, work-in-progress workshops, reading group and opportunities to share research findings through our blog.

A PhD in Gender Studies at Strathclyde may incorporate more than one of the following areas:

  • using theoretical perspectives from feminist, queer, disability and/or critical race perspectives to advance knowledge in associated areas
  • studying intersecting in/equalities in history, culture and/or society
  • assessing and evaluating approaches developed in and across different disciplinary traditions

Our expertise

At Strathclyde, we can offer supervisory expertise in a variety of areas within Gender Studies, including:

  • feminist media, literary and cultural studies
  • contemporary social movements
  • feminist histories
  • gender-based violence
  • educational inequality
  • sociology of religion
  • eco-feminism
  • reproductive rights

 

The Place of Useful Learning

UK University of the Year

Daily Mail University of the Year Awards 2026

Scottish University of the Year

The Sunday Times' Good University Guide 2026

View our current research opportunities

Resilience for Digitalised Critical Infrastructure (ReDI) Collaboration

The ReDI Collaboration is looking for up to 8 fully funded PhD candidates (based at University of Strathclyde and University of Surrey), across a range of disciplines, to carry out advanced research in building security and resilience in a digitalised world, as part of the ReDI collaboration led academically by the Universities of Surrey and Strathclyde and supported by the Surrey-Strathclyde-NPL strategic partnership and industry partners.

Deadline:

30 June 2026

Funding:

funded
THE Awards 2019: UK University of the Year Winner
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Fees & funding

All fees quoted are per academic year unless otherwise stated.

Entrants may be subject to a small fee during the writing up period.

Fees may be subject to updates to maintain accuracy. Tuition fees will be notified in your offer letter.

All fees are in £ sterling, unless otherwise stated, and may be subject to revision.

Annual revision of fees

Students on programmes of study of more than one year (or studying standalone modules) should be aware that the majority of fees will increase annually.

The University will take a range of factors into account, including, but not limited to, UK inflation, changes in delivery costs and changes in Scottish and/or UK Government funding. Changes in fees will be published on the University website in October each year for the following year of study and any annual increase will be capped at a maximum of 10% per year. This cap will apply to fees from 2026/27 onwards, which will not increase by more than 10% from the previous year for continuing students.

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Scotland

£5,006

England, Wales & Northern Ireland

£5,006

Republic of Ireland

If you are an Irish citizen and have been ordinary resident in the Republic of Ireland for the three years prior to the relevant date, and will be coming to Scotland for Educational purposes only, you will meet the criteria of England, Wales & Northern Ireland fee status. For more information and advice on tuition fee status, you can visit the UKCISA - International student advice and guidance - Scotland: fee status webpage. Find out more about the University of Strathclyde's fee assessments process.
International

£19,850

Additional costs

International students may have associated visa and immigration costs. Please see student visa guidance for more information.

 

Funding

Take a look at our funding your postgraduate research web page for funding information.

You can also view our scholarships search for further funding opportunities.

Postgraduate research opportunities

Search for all funded and non-funded postgraduate research opportunities.

Please note: the fees shown are annual and may be subject to an increase each year.

Back to course

Fees & funding

All fees quoted are per academic year unless otherwise stated.

Entrants may be subject to a small fee during the writing up period.

Fees may be subject to updates to maintain accuracy. Tuition fees will be notified in your offer letter.

All fees are in £ sterling, unless otherwise stated, and may be subject to revision.

Annual revision of fees

Students on programmes of study of more than one year (or studying standalone modules) should be aware that the majority of fees will increase annually.

The University will take a range of factors into account, including, but not limited to, UK inflation, changes in delivery costs and changes in Scottish and/or UK Government funding. Changes in fees will be published on the University website in October each year for the following year of study and any annual increase will be capped at a maximum of 10% per year. This cap will apply to fees from 2026/27 onwards, which will not increase by more than 10% from the previous year for continuing students.

Go back
Scotland

£5,238

England, Wales & Northern Ireland

£5,238

Republic of Ireland

If you are an Irish citizen and have been ordinary resident in the Republic of Ireland for the three years prior to the relevant date, and will be coming to Scotland for Educational purposes only, you will meet the criteria of England, Wales & Northern Ireland fee status. For more information and advice on tuition fee status, you can visit the UKCISA - International student advice and guidance - Scotland: fee status webpage. Find out more about the University of Strathclyde's fee assessments process.
International

£20,950

Additional costs

International students may have associated visa and immigration costs. Please see student visa guidance for more information.

 

Funding

Take a look at our funding your postgraduate research web page for funding information.

You can also view our scholarships search for further funding opportunities.

Postgraduate research opportunities

Search for all funded and non-funded postgraduate research opportunities.

Please note: the fees shown are annual and may be subject to an increase each year.

Our research

The Gender Studies PhD is an interdisciplinary research area within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, supported by staff from a range of subject areas, including:

  • Journalism, Media & Communication
  • English
  • French
  • Italian
  • History
  • Education
  • Social Policy
  • Criminology and Politics

Postgraduate research at the Strathclyde Doctoral School

The Strathclyde Doctoral School offers a vibrant, student-centred research and training environment, dedicated to supporting both current and future research talent.

Bringing together all four of our faculties, it is committed to enhancing the student experience, increasing research outputs and opportunities, and ensuring that training is delivered at the highest standard.

As a postgraduate researcher, you will automatically become a member of the Strathclyde Doctoral School.

Find out more about the Doctoral School

Supervisors
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Supervisors

All PhD students have two supervisors, and the supervisory team may be comprised of colleagues from different subject areas or schools within the faculty. Interdisciplinary applications are strongly encouraged.

Gender studies is a growing area at Strathclyde within and across traditional disciplinary areas. The staff listed below are interested in supervising postgraduate research in gender studies within the specialist areas listed.

Supervisor Areas of Expertise
Karen Boyle, Professor of Feminist Media Studies
  • feminist film, television & media studies
  • gendered violence & representation
  • audience research & genre studies
  • UK women's liberation movement
  • digital feminist activism
Petya Eckler, Senior Lecturer in Journalism, Media & Communication
  • body image
  • eating disorders
  • social media
Hannah Elizabeth
  • history of HIV/AIDS and sexual health
  • history of sex education
  • LGBTQ+ history
  • history of activism, especially health activism and queer activism
Catherine Eschle, Senior Lecturer in Politics & International Relations
  • feminist political theory & feminist IR
  • feminist peace studies
  • debates in & about contemporary feminist organising, including transnationally & in global institutions
  • the gender politics & role of feminism in other social movements
Michael Higgins, Senior Lecturer in Journalism, Media & Communication
  • gender & political communication
  • gendered representations in political news
Sophie Jones, Lecturer in Contemporary Literature & Gender Studies
  • gender & post-1945 literature & film, especially American
  • the politics of reproduction
  • critical medical humanities
  • critical disability studies
  • theories & representations of the body
  • writing and/in feminist activism
Laura Kelly, Professor of Modern Irish History
  • social history of gender & medicine
  • history of sexuality & reproductive health
  • history of activism
  • women in the professions
Redi Koobak, Chancellor's Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Gender Studies
  • intersectional approaches to gender, race and sexuality
  • postcolonialism and postsocialism, particularly in relation to Eastern Europe
  • contemporary art and visual culture studies
  • gender, war and nationalism
  • feminist media studies
  • decolonial and transnational feminisms
  • arts-based methods and creative methodologies
Churnjeet Mahn, Professor of English Literature
  • travel, especially in the context of decolonialisation
  • creative non-fiction (especially travel, memoir & essays)
  • postcolonial/decolonial approaches to sexuality
  • transnational approaches to literature which critique gender & sexuality
  • grassroots heritage movements, especially in the wake of religious & national conflict
  • inclusion & diversity in the English Literature curriculum
Raquel Martinez Martin
  • narratives of crisis and activism
  • labour and precarity
  • ageing, motherhood and gender
Melanie McCarry, Lecturer, Social Policy
  • men's violence against women & girls
  • domestic abuse (including in relation to young people's relationships & same-sex relationships)
  • forced marriage
  • sexual violence & campus-based sexual misconduct & abuse
Donna McCormack, Chancellor's Fellow and Senior Lecturer
  • post- and anti-colonial theories
  • critical race theory
  • queer and queercrip theories
  • contemporary literature, including contemporary science and speculative fiction
  • critical disability studies and critical medical humanities
  • organ transplantation, and more broadly biotechnologies and biopolitics
  • monster studies and theory, specifically evolutionary theory
  • arts-based methods and creative methodologies
Rhiannon McGlade, Lecturer in Hispanic Studies
  • Spanish feminist politics
  • sexual dissidence in Spain and Catalonia
  • visual cultures and feminist dissent in Spain
Fiona McKay, Lecturer in Journalism, Media & Communication
  • gender and political communication
  • gendered representations in media
  • women and journalism
  • journalism ethics
Katharine Mitchell, Senior Lecturer in Italian Culture, Media and Gender
  • Italian literature & culture, particularly domestic fiction
  • early twentieth-century print media
  • female (silent) screenwriters
  • literature & the figure of the diva
  • women spectators of opera, theatre & silent film
  • women writers
  • celebrity cultures
Esperanza Miyake, Chancellor's Fellow and Lecturer in Journalism, Media and Communication
  • technology & gender
  • race & gender
  • gender & media/popular/consumer culture
  • critical feminist theory
  • digital identities & gender
Emma Newlands, Strathclyde Chancellor's Fellow and Senior Lecturer in History
  • health, medicine & masculinities in the 20th Century
  • history of the modern body
Laura Piacentini, Professor of Criminology
  • cultures of punishment in the former USSR
  • gender, carcerality & geography
Elsa Richardson, Strathclyde Chancellor's Fellow and Lecturer in History
  • feminism & vegetarianism
  • early 20th Century life reform movements
  • psychoanalysis
  • occultism; the history of emotions
Yvette Taylor, Professor of Education
  • class
  • educational inequality
  • gender
  • religion
  • sexuality
Caroline Verdier, Senior Lecturer in French studies
  • critical medical humanities
  • French & Francophone women's writing & feminism
  • representations of the body
  • writing illness & the body
  • gender & cultural identity

 

Support & development
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Support & development

The Graduate School

As a postgraduate researcher in Gender Studies, you'll also be a member of our Faculty Graduate School. We're members of the Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities and the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science. All registered PhD students are members of one or both of these Schools (depending on your subject discipline), which provide training, events and funding opportunities. They also encompass the AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership (SGSAH) and the ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership (SGSSS), which offer fully-funded studentships. The university-wide lead for AHRC PGR/SGSAH and ESRC PGR/SGSSS is Dr Mark Ellis.

The Graduate School is also a well-equipped physical space, which further facilitates our strong emphasis on interdisciplinary working.

Postgraduate Certificate in Researcher Professional Development (PgCert RPD)

While pursuing your PhD or MPhil in Gender Studies, you'll also undertake the University’s Postgraduate Certificate in Researcher Professional Development (PG Cert RPD), which provides comprehensive professional and personal development training for all postgraduate research students.

The programme offers a tailored suite of workshops, courses, events, online provision and resources designed to meet the development needs of postgraduate research students. PhD students will graduate with the University’s Postgraduate Certificate in Researcher Professional Development. This is a unique qualification, where students can gain credits for academic-related activities, such as conference presentations and organisation. The aim is to develop skilled, confident researchers and effective and valuable potential employees.

 

Careers

The University Careers Service can help you with everything from writing your CV to interview preparation.

Student support

From financial advice to our IT facilities, we have a wide range of support for all students here at Strathclyde. Get all the information you need at Strathlife.

International students

We've a thriving international community with students coming here to study from over 140 countries across the world. Find out all you need to know about studying in Glasgow at Strathclyde and hear from students about their experiences.

Visit our international students' section

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Apply

Entry requirements

For PhD, normally, a first-class or upper second-class Honours degree, or overseas equivalent, plus a Masters degree in a relevant area.

How to apply

If you're interested in studying for a PhD in Gender Studies, the first thing you need to do is to find out if there’s a supervisor available to oversee your studies. You can find that information in the supervisors tab.

The other key element is your research proposal. Read our guidelines on writing proposals.

Applications are via our Pegasus online portal.

When applying, you'll be asked to upload:

  • your research proposal
  • scans of degree certificates/transcripts
  • two academic reference letters (if it would be easier for you, you can ask your referees to send their letters direct to hass-postgrad@strath.ac.uk placing your name and the word "reference" in the subject line)
  • confirmation of funding

If you're an international applicant and don’t have a degree from a UK University (or a University where the primary medium of instruction is English), we require a minimum overall IELTS score of 6.5 or equivalent (no individual test score below 5.5, the test must be taken within two years of the programme start date).

The use of AI

The University is aware of the temptation to use Generative AI (including ChatGPT), however, these tools do not always generate accurate and up-to-date information.

Our academics, who are experts in their field, are very good at identifying when text has been generated in this way and expect your research proposal to be written in your own words.

We need to know that you have the academic skills required to write a thesis and can only support you on your journey when we see your own work.

Start date

Most PhD students start in October, so they move forward as one cohort, but you can start at any time of year (people often have to defer until they find funding.) Keep an eye on our funding databases (postgraduate research opportunities and University scholarships) for any forthcoming Strathclyde research studentship opportunities.

Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Gender Studies (partner organisation)

part-time
Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Apply now

Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Gender Studies (partner organisation)

full-time
Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Apply now

Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Gender Studies

PhD
full-time
Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Apply now

Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Gender Studies

PhD
part-time
Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026

Apply now

Start date: Oct 2026 - Sep 2027

Gender Studies (partner organisation)

part-time
Start date: Oct 2026 - Sep 2027

Apply now

Start date: Oct 2026 - Sep 2027

Gender Studies (partner organisation)

full-time
Start date: Oct 2026 - Sep 2027

Apply now

Start date: Oct 2026 - Sep 2027

Gender Studies

PhD
full-time
Start date: Oct 2026 - Sep 2027

Apply now

Start date: Oct 2026 - Sep 2027

Gender Studies

PhD
part-time
Start date: Oct 2026 - Sep 2027

Apply now

Start date: Oct 2027 - Sep 2028

Gender Studies (partner organisation)

part-time
Start date: Oct 2027 - Sep 2028

Apply now

Start date: Oct 2027 - Sep 2028

Gender Studies (partner organisation)

full-time
Start date: Oct 2027 - Sep 2028

Apply now

Start date: Oct 2027 - Sep 2028

Gender Studies

PhD
full-time
Start date: Oct 2027 - Sep 2028

Apply now

Start date: Oct 2027 - Sep 2028

Gender Studies

PhD
part-time
Start date: Oct 2027 - Sep 2028

Apply now
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Contact us

Research enquiries

Enquires for the PhD Gender Studies can be directed to potential supervisors.

General enquiries

Email: hass-hum-genderstudiespd@strath.ac.uk