Personal statement

I am a Lecturer in Social Policy, alongside which I am the chair of the Departmental Research Ethics Committee and Programme Lead for the Undergraduate Social Policy Programme.

I have a particular interest in the relationship between structural and gender-based violence, which has been reflected in my research into intersectional asylum harms, refugee integration and ‘honour’-based violence. I was awarded a PhD with no corrections in 2021, from my participatory research examining refugee women’s changing vulnerabilities to Female Genital Mutilation and other forms of gender-based violence. Since then, I have worked on research projects examining recently recognised refugees’ pathways to socio-economic inclusion (2021-2023); strategic litigation partnerships to uphold the housing and human rights of asylum seekers in Scotland (2022); gender-based violence within the UK music industry (2021) and research into the converging effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the overhaul of the UK immigration system on migrant women and families (2022-2024). Alongside my research, I serve as an Assistant Editor for the Refugee Survey Quarterly.

I specialise in creative visual methods and participatory research which is reflected in my co-produced research with refugees and third sector organisations, and my contributions as an academic mentor to the UK BME Anti-Slavery Network Community Research Programme. I am passionate about harnessing evidence to influence policy and practice development, and my research has contributed to several parliamentary and independent inquiries. I have also previously served as a Specialist Adviser for the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee inquiry into Equality and the UK Asylum Process (2021-2023).

In addition to my Programme Lead responsibilities, I teach across UG and PGT programmes, leading modules on Contemporary Migration and Perspectives on Social Research. I also deliver Faculty-level workshops for doctoral students on research ethics, writing publications and zine-making as a research method. My areas of teaching expertise include approaches to social research and research ethics; mixed and creative research methods; migration governance and asylum policy; gendered inequalities and gender-based violence; co-production; and cultural competence. I currently supervise the following doctoral students:

• Ioana Dobre - Experiences of citizenship, home-making and belonging for young Romanian Roma in post-Brexit Scotland
• Angeline Mwafulirwa- The role of third sector organisations in supporting asylum seekers’ and refugees’ integration, citizenship and belonging