Staff Profile

I am a Fellow in Politics at Newcastle University, and an Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science at Lund University, Sweden.

My research interests include:

• Gender, race, and political representation
• Gender, race and media coverage of politics
• Feminist activism and coalition building
• Gender and "development"
• Intersectionality
• Quantitative and qualitative methods   

For an up to date list of my publications, see my Google Scholar profile.

Overview

I am primarily interested in the political representation of intersectionally marginalised groups.

This includes using quantitative and qualitative methods to empirically analyse constitutive and substantive representation within parliaments, as well as relationships between civil society and states.

I have also contributed work theorising representation from intersectional perspectives. 

My PhD analysed the combined effects of political candidates’ race and gender campaign on media coverage in the US and UK. The thesis was awarded the 2019 Joni Lovenduski Prize. I also consult on gender issues in relation to civil society and development programming. My clients have included UN Women, UNESCO, Australian Aid,  Developmental Leadership Program and Pacific Leadership Program.

I am currently Co-PI (with Ashlee Christoffersen, York University, Canada) on the Swedish Research Council funded project "Unequal Opportunities to Advance Equality". This is a cross-national comparative analysis of variation in the influence of civil society equality organisations representing different marginalised groups. Our cases include Sweden, the UK and Canada. We investigate the effects of both differences among equality organisations themselves, and how variation in state '(in)equality architectures' privileges or marginalises different groups.

I teach at Lund University, Sweden

• Articles

  • Siow O. What constitutes substantive representation, and where should we evaluate it?. Political Studies Review 2023, 21(3), 532-538.
  • Siow O. Needles in a Haystack: The Descriptive, Constitutive, and Substantive Representation of Racially Minoritized Women. European Journal of Politics & Gender 2023, 6(3), 328-358.
  • Harmer E, Savigny H, Siow O. Trump, Clinton, and the Gendering of Newspaper Discourse About the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election Debates. Women's Studies in Communication 2021, 44(1), 81-101.
  • Ward O. Intersectionality and Press Coverage of Political Campaigns: Representations of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Female Candidates at the UK 2010 General Election. International Journal of Press/Politics 2017, 22(1), 43-66.
  • Harmer E, Savigny H, Ward O. 'Are you tough enough?' Performing gender in the UK leadership debates 2015. Media, Culture & Society 2017, 39(7), 960-975.
  • Ward O. Seeing Double: Race, Gender, and Coverage of Minority Women's Campaigns for the U.S. House of Representatives. Politics & Gender 2016, 12(2), 317-343.

• Book Chapters

  • Ward O. Media Framing of Black Women’s Campaigns for the US House of Representatives. In: Nadia E. Brown, Sarah Allen Gershon, ed. Distinct Identities: Minority Women in US Politics. London: Routledge, 2016, pp.153-170.
  • vanHeerde-Hudson J, Ward O. The 2009 British MPs' Expenses Scandal: Origins, Evolution and Consequences. In: Jennifer vanHeerde-Hudson, ed. The Political Costs of the 2009 British MPs’ Expenses Scandal. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014, pp.1-26.