Pushing the boundaries: how female researchers at Derby are breaking down barriers

Our female researchers work across the University of Derby in all disciplines from sciences to sport, arts to education. They are delivering research that makes a real difference to everyday lives and they are driving policy changes that can alter society for the better.

In the academic year 2021/22, HESA reported that only 29.7% of professors were female compared to 70.3% male. We are delighted to have so many female professors at the University, but we are just as excited to see our female researchers professing in their career, whether that’s joining the University as an Early Career Academic or becoming an Associate Professor. This year’s professorial conferment (academic progression to associate professor or to professor) was of particular significance as all the promotions were achieved by females.

But it’s not just our female Associate Professors and Professors who are leading the way, all our female researchers are demonstrating their strength and skills. Recently Dr Bally Kaur was awarded the British Education Research Association’s 2023 Doctoral Thesis Award for her thesis “Education encounters, hybrid identities and spectral traces: contesting the myths of Aston through the accounts of South Asian Muslim Women”, and Dr Elizabeth Marsh and her colleagues have been nominated for an award in the ‘Partnership between academia and business’ category in the MediLinkUK Business awards.

Our female researchers also proudly take on leadership positions and demonstrate both their journey and their success, inspiring others to achieve similar. Within our six Academic Themes, three are led by females – Professor Myra Conway, Professor Debs Robinson and Professor Ang Bartram.

Within our schools, research centres and groups, we have female leadership across all areas such as  Dr Sally Akehurst in the School of Human Sciences, Professor Carley Foster in the Centre for Business Improvement Professor Carley Foster, and Professor Siobhan Neary in the International Centre for Guidance Studies. 

Alongside that, we have researchers such as Dr Lisa Ledger who presented at the Wounds UK conference and the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (EPUAP), and Professor Susan Hogan, who has been invited to be the keynote speaker at the 2023 European Federation of Art Therapy Conference (EFAT).

Our researchers are also demonstrating their international influence and success with Dr Mounia Karim being part of Women in Concentrated Solar Power International Group, Dr Aaisha Makkar delivering lectures at the University of South Dakota, USA and attending the 5th International Conference on Recent Trends in Image Processing and Pattern Recognition (RTIP2R) at the University of Texas. And Dr Gemma Marmalade being recognised as an Honorary Professor for the Arts by Nevada State College, USA.

Our female researchers not only push the boundaries of research every day with their ground-breaking discoveries, but they are breaking down the barriers and showing all females that anything can be accomplished. We continue to be proud of everything our female researchers achieve. 

Find out more about our female researchers