Diane Richardson spoke about the evolution of gender research at Newcastle University which started as the Centre for Gender and Women’s Studies (CGWS) back in 1996.  The CGWS promoted collaborative interdisciplinary projects across a wide range of Schools and departments. It ran research projects and taught programmes including an ESRC recognised MA in Gender Studies as well as MLitt, MPhil and PHD programmes. Reflecting various shifts in ‘gender mainstreaming’ and the changes we have seen institutionally in the provision of higher education lack of dedicated CGWS staff and investment put the sustainability of the Centre in question. It subsequently evolved into what is now the Faculty Gender Research Group.  This trajectory highlights the longstanding vibrancy of gender research and feminist scholarship at Newcastle. The importance of this history and of the current vibrancy in teaching and research is all the more significant in these times when gender studies is under attack in universities in other parts of the world.

Stacy Gillis highlighted the work of the Gender Research Group (https://research.ncl.ac.uk/grg/) which brings together a large number of scholars, primarily, but not exclusively, from within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, including Arts, Law, Culture and Music, Education, English, Geography, History, Modern Languages, Politics, Sociology.

Peter Hopkins, Dean of Social Justice, spoke about the importance of our understanding of the diverse forms of gender inequalities and sexual equality as a University and how we might share and promote social justice.

 

Kate Chedgzoy, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, spoke about her role as Director in the HaSS Faculty, and outlined the kind of activities she has undertaken in this role and the influence she has been able to have.

 

Karen spoke about Advancing Gender Equality in Media Industries (AGEMI), a web-based, research-driven and globally-focused resource which comprises curated and created materials: the primary impacts are on: understanding, learning and participation (amongst students, civil society and media professionals); and influencing media professionals (journalists). AGEMI resources have been used in university and non-university education and training contexts with young people and media professionals in a range of workshops and courses across several continents, generating positive and transformative feedback. It is listed as a good practice resource in publications aimed at educators, and on the websites of European and global NGOs and media unions as well as the UK Association of Journalism Education.

Maarja presented on her work on gender and female representation in the context of European Parliament elections. She is particularly interested in how different institutions - such as political parties, media (both traditional and new media), and electoral rules - either facilitate or hinder women’s representation across contexts and how citizens respond to that. 

Hannah spoke about conducting PhD research as a woman, with women, in a male dominated industry. Hannah Budge is an ESRC funded PhD researcher at the Centre of Rural Economy. Her research is examining the role of women in agriculture in the Scottish Islands, looking at the barriers, in what was traditionally viewed as a masculine industry, experienced between and within these communities. Hannah is interested in how gender impacts on everyday life in rural areas. 

This talk explored how the emergence over the past two decades of theoretical developments associated with a cross-disciplinary ‘material turn’ are giving rise to new frontiers for feminist methods, albeit ones that are indebted to and echo long-standing feminist concerns. Specifically, feminist new materialist philosophies of science are opening up alternative ways of understanding the nature and role of research methods in the production of knowledge. These developments are also making possible innovative ways practising feminist methods drawing on a “diffractive” methodology as a replacement for reflexivity, which involves research (rather than simply researchers) holding itself ethically and politically accountable for its ontological consequences. 

Ana’s research focusses mostly on gender equality in employment and on precarious work. Ana presented her work on the Alta project, a mentoring scheme for women in aviation and aerospace, which is based upon a knowledge exchange partnership between academics and industry partners, and co-funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. The mentoring scheme is based on rigorous research and offers career and social support to women who often feel isolated, un-heard and under-represented in this male-dominated industry. The findings of the research that underpin the scheme have influenced policy, practice, and diversity strategies in the aviation industry.

Alta is a mentoring scheme for women in aviation and aerospace, which is based upon a knowledge exchange partnership between academics, the Royal Aeronautical Society, Airbus and the Royal Air Force and co-funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. Alta is open to any woman professional in the industry. The scheme is based on rigorous research and offer career and social support to women who often feel isolated, un-heard and under-represented in this male-dominated industry. The findings of the research that underpin the scheme have influenced policy, practice, and diversity strategies in the industry. 

Lottie spoke about everyday lived experiences of young women negotiating the socio-political site of the school and their everyday lives in the context of period poverty. Lottie’s PhD research aims to explore everyday experiences of ‘period poverty’ in Newcastle upon Tyne. She works across disciplines – mainly human geography, sociology and touching on psychology – to explore the sociospatial, cultural and socioeconomic aspects and experiences of being unable to afford or access period products to manage menstruation. Set within feminist theory, Lottie use individual interviews and journaling exercises to hear about intimate experience and gather highly informative rich data about ‘period poverty’ in everyday life. Through her research she seeks to map structural intersections of how menstruation is gendered, how ‘period poverty’ is classed and how menstruation taboo impacts upon the daily negotiation and personal everyday experiences of managing a period in times of difficulty. 

In 2019, Michael brought together 10 young men from the North East Young Dads and Lads (NEYDL) project with Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children’s Books. This collaboration saw young men explore different ways of reading to their children – as well as an exploration of the role reading may (or may not) have played in their lives. The project highlighted the value of reading for child development, as well as for the career prospects of the young men themselves, although found that many young fathers struggle with reading, especially out loud. In working creatively, this literacy project encouraged 10 young men to gain confidence and skills and overall helped to create positive reading environments with their children. More recently, Michael worked with Dr Kate Court, a research software engineer to co-create a storytelling app with some of the young men at NEYDL. The application includes an interactive ‘treasure map’ showing current location, a route to follow, and ‘storytelling points’. At each storytelling point, the user is prompted to explore the local landscape and view 3D Augmented Reality (AR) models with their phone cameras. The value of this research is that the digital app technology will help young fathers to be involved in their children’s lives in a way that is more appropriate to their lives and fulfil their expressed desire to be there for them.

Tim's thesis explored fathers' perception of their role in their children's development through a systematic literature review of fathers' perception of their role including papers from the USA, South America, Japan and Botswana. He also carried out a qualitative exploration of the perception of 25 fathers in the North East of England in their children's development. The research explored these fathers’ perception of their role, in relation to their past, their current parenting context and the goals they have for their children. Findings suggest that fathers develop an understanding of their role by how it is modelled to them, by their own father and other parenting role models. Fathers from the North East perceive their role as an integrated synthesis of roles, which includes providence, nurturing, protection and being a moral guide. The participants ranked their children’s emotional, relational and physical needs as the biggest influence on their performance of their role. Cultural and gender expectations were ranked as the least influential factors. Common themes of fathers’ goals included the development of wellbeing, morality and agency for their children. Finally, the implications of this research in applied psychological practice and research are explored. 

A theme of the conference was that gender is a key issue in every aspect of our lives. Prof Liz Todd described her Nuffield funded research into children’s out of school lives that carried out multiple interviews in 10 schools and looked at how the activities of 19,000 children aged 7-11y that are in the Millennium Cohort Study. Gender wasn’t one of the research questions but the findings showed the multiple gendered ways that children live their lives.

Richard spoke about his work in the field of law and gender, with a focus on issues around men and masculinities. His work encompasses primarily (although not exclusively) the fields of law, families and social change, gender and the legal profession and gender and crime/criminology.

Libby and Mary spoke about how gender is everywhere – research on disability and accessibility has a gendered dimension – gender is often not the core focus of research projects but its intersection shapes the experience of those living with disability.

9th June, 2020

Provocation - Sue Scott

Remaking Otherwise: Radical Care, Coalitional Survival, and Design in Times of Crisis - Sarah Fox

Parenting in a Pandemic: a case study of the North East Young Dads and Lads Project- Michael J Richardson

Love is in the air…but so is COVID: Dating in the midst of a Pandemic - Melissa Whitaker

10th June, 2020
Provocation - Diane Richardson

Domestic Abuse In/As Times of Crisis - Rachel Pain

“Story Spaces: Gender, Solace, Interiority” - Stacy Gillis

Unemployed LGBTQI populations in Greece and COVID-19 - Angeliki Sifaki

Good girls vs. bad boys: gendered leadership and strategic journalism - Karen Ross

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