Dr Barbara Read
- Reader in Gender and Social Inequalities (Educational Leadership & Policy)
email:
Barbara.Read@glasgow.ac.uk
St Andrew's Building, 11 Eldon Street, Glasgow, G3 6nh
Biography
Career
I am a sociologist of education, with an interdisciplinary background in history, social anthropology, and women's studies. Currently Reader in Gender and Social Inequalities at the School of Education, University of Glasgow, I was previously Senior Lecturer at the Department of Education, Roehampton University (2007-12) and Research Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies in Education, London Metropolitan University (2001-2007).
Qualifications include a PhD in Sociology from the University of Bristol and an MA in Women's Studies from the University of Kent at Canterbury, and BA (Hons) in Ancient History and Social Anthropology from University College London.
Current Roles:
I am currently PI for an ESRC-funded project entitled Gendered Journeys: The Trajectories of STEM students through Higher Education and Into Employment, in India and Rwanda. This project is funded until 2023.
I am also Ethics Officer for the School of Education.
Research interests
My main research interests are: gender and educational cultures in HE; gender and student experience in HE; academic culture and work, particularly inequalities of experience and the issue of casualisation; peer group/friendship cultures and the social world of the university; gender, subject choice, disciplinary cultures and academic knowledge - particularly in relation to gender and STEM subjects at HE and leading to HE entry - in international contexts.
I have particular expertise in:
- gender and educational 'cultures'
- gender and knowledge - particularly gender and STEM
- the construction and 'performance' of gendered identities (in particular students, young people, teachers and academics)
- identities and intersectionality
- the student experience
- academics and the world of academic work
- gender, friendship and 'popularity'
- gender, class and 'race' in relation to academic achievement
- widening participation, inequalities and academic cultures
- students’ experiences and perceptions of HE
- the ‘social world’ of the university
- social inequalities and social justice
- gender, language and communication
- classroom observation, visual and textual analysis
- critical and poststructuralist theory, especially Foucault and Butler
Grants
Economic and Social Research Council Grant: Gendered Journeys: The Trajectories of STEM Students and Graduates through Higher Education and Into Employment, in India and Rwanda (PI) (Award: £986,320). 2020-23.
Economic and Social Research Council Grant: Examining Gender and Higher Education: STEM and Beyond. A UK-African Countries Network (PI) (Award: £82, 109). 2017-2018.
University of Glasgow Competitive Award: Directorship of 2-Year research programme, Social Precarity, for the Adam Smith Research Foundation (Award: £50,000). 2014-2016.
British Academy Grant: Playing the ‘Fall Guy’: classed, gendered and ‘raced’ friendship dynamics in the context of academic achievement (PI) (Award: £7,492.78). 2009.
University of Roehampton Competitive Award: Research grant to support the Playing the 'Fall Guy' project (Award: £4,000). 2009.
British Educational Research Association: Meeting of Minds Fellowship (mentor: Prof. Diane Reay). (Award: £585). 2008.
London Metropolitan University Competitive Award: to support creation of a seminar series on ‘Examining Assessment in Higher Education’ (2003), with Becky Francis. (Special Issue of Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education Journal commissioned as a result of this series). (Award: £1,440). 2002-2003.
London Metropolitan University Competitive Award: to fund an administrator for Becky Francis and Barbara Read (2001-2002) (Lead applicant) (Award: £3,518). 2002.
Economic and Social Research Council Grant: University Lecturers’ Constructions of Undergraduate Writing (R000239187) Co-applicant. (PI – Becky Francis). 2002-2004.
Supervision
PhD Doctorate Students completed:
Nuramira Anuar, 'Transnational Journeys: Changing Identities, Perceptions and Experiences of Malaysian Doctoral Students Studying in the UK'. Awarded July 2019. University of Glasgow.
Louise Sheridan, ‘Youth Participation in Scotland: Key Features and Influences on Practice and Participation. Awarded July 2018. University of Glasgow.
Ali Sameer, 'The Visible and Invisible Discourses: The Securitization of Pakistan and its Impact on the Social Construction of Girls'/Women's Education. Awarded August 2020. University of Glasgow.
Yue Song, 'Children of Migrant Workers in Urban High Schools: an Analysis of the Dual Role of Education'. Awarded July 2018. University of Glasgow.
Yuwei Xu (University Scholarship), 'The Performance of Gender: A cross-cultural analysis of gender and teaching in early childhood settings'. Awarded July 2018. University of Glasgow.
Keyu Zhai (CSC Scholarship), 'Social Mobility and Undergraduates in China'. Awarded April 2020. University of Glasgow.
EdD Doctorate Students completed:
Julie Alderton, ‘Pedagogical Discourses and Subjectivities in Primary Mathematics Initial Teacher Education’. Awarded 2013. University of Roehampton.
Rosalie Doherty, 'The Broken Triangle: Women's Gender Based Oppression, Community Development and the Promotion of Women's Health and Wellbeing in Ireland'. Awarded July 2019. University of Glasgow.
PhD students supervising:
Tahsina Akbar (University Scholarship, 2019- present): Gendered Interpretations of Curriculum Texts in Bangladesh in the Context of UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals for Women’s ‘Empowerment'.
Louise Couceiro (ESRC Scholarship, MRes 2018-2019, PhD 2019 - present). A New Wave of Non Fiction Feminist Children’s Literature: Children’s Responses and Perceptions.
Nicola Dickson (2016-present) Art as a Tool of Empowerment for Vulnerable Groups.
Mei Hu (2021-present) How do potential differences of institutional habitus of the UK universities and those of international students’ home countries influence their sense of social identity and then affect their learning experiences and identities?
Oisin Kealy (LKAS Scholarship, 2018-present). Human Rights Films Festivals.
Angeliki Peponi (2017-present) Internationally Educated Teachers in Scotland’s Schools: Included for Inclusion?
Emily Thomson (2018-present) Gender and Care: Modern Apprenticeships in Scotland.
Yijie Wang (CSC Scholarship, 2019-present) How Overseas Study Influences the Standardised Lifecourse: Experiences of Chinese International Students
EdD Doctorate Students supervising:
Penny Anderson (2018-present): A Time to Care? Temporality and its Relationship to Care Values as Viewed Through the Lived Experiences of Women in the Scottish School-Aged Childcare Workforce.
Jamie DeYoung (2020-present): Supporting Undergraduate Female Engineering Students at an Evangelical Higher Education Institution in the United States.
- Akbar, Tahsina
Conceptions of gender and career aspirations: A study of young students utilising a gender-sensitive curriculum in Bangladesh - Couceiro, Louise
Exploring Children’s Responses to and Engagement with Feminist Biographical Illustrated Books - Hu, Mei
How do potential differences of instiutional habitis of the UK - Kealy, Oisin
Human Rights Film Festivals in South America - Peponi, Angeliki
Internationally Educated Teachers in Scotland’s Schools: Included for Inclusion?
Teaching
My teaching role is currently reduced as a result of my work on the Gendered Journeys project, however I contribute to a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate courses, including:
Fundamentals of Education, MEduc with Primary Teaching Qualification
Equity, Social Justice and Change, MSc in Education, Public Policy and Equity
Museums as a Source for Learning, MSc in Museum Education
Additional information
I am on the Editorial Board of International Studies in Sociology of Education, and served two terms on the editorial board of Gender and Education (2009-2014). I was also UK and Ireland Editor of Women's Studies International Forum journal from 2008-2010. I review articles for a wide range of journals, as well as book proposals for Routledge and grant proposals for the ESRC.
In 2012 Becky Francis, Christine Skelton and I won 1st Prize for books published in 2012 from the Society for Educational Studies (for The Identities and Practices of High Achieving Pupils).
I am currently the Prinicipal Investigator of Gendered Journeys project, a 3 year project funded by an ESRC GCRF grant, as well as Ethics Officer for the School of Education.
From 2017-18 I was the lead facilitator of the Examining Gender in Higher Education (EGHE) Network : a partnership between academics at the University of Glasgow, University of Rwanda, Kenyatta University (Kenya), Gambia College, Makerere University (Uganda), and NGO partners the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE). This network was established and funded for 18-months via an ESRC GCRF Networks Grant. The Network had an interest in all aspects of academic culture, practices and experience for students and staff in HE in our network countries, and an interest in subject/disciplinary issues including gender and the study of STEM subjects. We have produced two policy briefings as part of our outputs for the network which can be downloaded from the project webpage (see above).
I also regularly speak on gender issues nationally and internationally, including invitations from the British Embassy in Estonia and from the British Council to speak on UK issues relating to gender and girls' education at an event in Karachi, Pakistan.
I am currently the Undergraduate/Postgraduate Taught (UG/PGT) Ethics Officer for the School of Education.