Society & Policy Gender

Researchers across the University of Strathclyde conduct internationally leading work in the field of gender studies, and related interdisciplinary fields of feminist, women’s, LGBT+ and queer studies. The theme encompasses a wide range of research interests including:

Gender issues, inequalities, gender-based violence, gender justice, gender differences, gender identities, gendered relationships, gender and power.
The social, cultural, historical, political, and economic dimensions of gender.
How gender intersects with related structural inequalities including class, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and disability.
Gender theory, queer theory, feminist epistemology and methodology.
Activism, advocacy, business, education and policy work in fields of diversity, inclusion, equalities, and social justice.

The gender sub-theme has a strong policy, community, and media orientation, aiming to generate new understandings of, and tools for addressing, gendered inequalities across different contexts.

Our research cluster on Gender includes a new Masters programme in Applied Gender Studies led by Professor Karen Boyle and PhD researchers investigating a wide range of gendered related topics across the four faculties.

Recent grants and projects include:

Media monitoring for Pass the Mic: Women of Colour in Scottish News (Prof Karen Boyle with Engender and Women 50/50, funded via Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust).
‘Connecting States of Desire: Sustaining LGBTQ Lives in a Refugee Organisation’ (Dr Churnjeet Mahn, AHRC funded)
the NORFACE funded 'Comparing Intersectional Life Course Inequalities amongst LGBTQI+ Citizens in Four European Counties', (Prof Yvette Taylor)
Equally Safe in Higher Educationa project funded by the Scottish Government to tackle gender-based violence in Higher Education. This two year project implements the Toolkit that the team launched in April 2018 (Dr Melanie McCarry, Anni Donaldson, Roisin McGoldrick)
‘Fandom, Media, and Gender in Scotland’s “National” Game’, (Prof Karen Boyle, AHRC funded)
TransEDU (Dr Stephanie Mckendry and Dr Matson Lawrence, SFC funded) which conducted empirical research, and developed resources and information for supporting trans, non-binary & gender diverse applicants, students and staff in Further and Higher Education.
‘Women in the Russian Penal System' (Prof Laura Piacentini, ESRC funded).
Here and Now: a gender-specific approach to trauma, bereavement and loss among women in prison, (Ms Nina Vaswani, CYCJ), (evaluation funded by Barnardo’s)
Cross-Border Queers: The Story of South Asian Migrants in the UK (Dr Churnjeet Mahn and Dr Rohit K Dasgupta, British Academy Funded)
Belgitude and Feminism: Intersection and Impact. (Dr Caroline Verdier, funded by the Carnegie Trust)
STEM Equals: Creating more inclusive STEM communities (Prof Becky Lunn, Civil and Environmental Engineering, EPSRC funded)