Marked and
persistent gender gaps mean that women often experience poorer
outcomes across physical and mental health, and within employment
systems where they receive less career support and fewer
opportunities for advancement. Women continue to be exposed to sexist
behaviours that perpetuate gender-based discrimination. This
cross-disciplinary group addresses women's experiences from a range
of perspectives, encompassing biological, health, occupational, and
social psychology, as well as neurobiology and physiotherapy, to
better understand and address the inequalities women still face.
We
take an inclusive approach, ensuring that intersecting factors such
as class, age, ethnicity, sexuality, and gender identity are central
to our work. Our research falls into three broad, inter-related
categories:
Health
Our women's health research spans reproductive health and healthcare
access; menstrual health and conditions including endometriosis, PMS, and PMDD; menopause and
perimenopause (digital support tools, symptom tracking apps, peer-led social media, nutrition,
cognition, and brain health); sexual health and wellbeing, including for those with chronic conditions such as
Sjögren's disease; cervical screening uptake and barriers to care; perinatal mental health and psychotropic
medication safety in pregnancy; AI co-design for women's health experiences; pelvic floor rehabilitation
and vulvodynia; dementia risk and sex differences in Alzheimer's disease; and the role of digital
technologies, nutrition, physical activity, and emotion regulation across women's health and wellbeing.
Sexism
Our research in this area examines
online sexism and its use to police women's behaviour,
self-expression, and health choices; the normalisation of misogyny
and strategies to combat it; gender bias in AI language models and
its impact on queer individuals; discrimination against single women;
the intersecting impacts of gender identity and sexual orientation on
experiences of prejudice and hate crime; intimate partner violence
and sexual coercion in LGBTQ+ communities; victim blaming and rape
case attrition in the criminal justice system; gender and sexuality
in sport, including transgender inclusion and gendered barriers to
physical activity; reproductive health stereotypes and their impact
on care; and role, identity, and censorship conflicts in traditional
and digital spaces, with research informing policy through Law
Commission reviews and partnerships with organisations including
Stonewall and the Crown Prosecution Service.
Work
Our research in
this area covers women's experiences in male-dominated industries,
particularly the creative industries (including acting and comedy),
examining gender-based constraints, pressures to conceal gender
identity, and feminist assertiveness in the workplace; workplace
bullying, incivility, and sexism in healthcare settings including
surgical training; the motherhood penalty and organisational support
for menopause at work; women's career advancement and satisfaction in
STEM; female police officers' career progression and wellbeing;
work-life balance and border management for working and student
mothers; the renegotiation of work and home spaces post-pandemic; and
gendered differences in how men and women utilise resources for
career success.
