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While academic research about 18th-century women writers is well established, many general readers are completely unfamiliar with the range, presence and vitality of their cultural activity. Elizabeth Eger's research on 18th-century women's writing led to a free, public exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery aimed to bridge the distance between specialised and general knowledge by introducing to the general public the original bluestockings— a group of intellectual women who had significant social and literary impact upon Enlightenment Britain but were subsequently written out of history. The exhibition attracted a large audience of over 185,000 people, approximately twice the number predicted by the NPG. 40% of the visitors were first time at the NPG, and an outreach programme ensured this audience was diverse.
Using a ground-breaking database of recovered narratives of Latin American women during the Wars of Independence,
The production of hand-knitting is of key economic and cultural importance in Scotland. University of Glasgow research on the history of hand-knitting has: helped to enhance a significant textiles collection at Shetland Museum and Archives (~88,000 visitors each year) and contributed to the growth of public interest in and understanding of this craft activity and its history. Glasgow research has also informed the work of contemporary knitwear designers who have found inspiration in the traditional designs and colour ways and has engaged the wider public, promoting greater appreciation of the cultural significance of hand-knitting and its role in the rural economy of the past and present.
Research into seventeenth-century Quaker writings conducted at Loughborough University by Prof. Elaine Hobby and Dr Catie Gill has enriched the cultural and spiritual lives of modern-day Quakers, and that of others interested in the Quaker movement. This has been achieved both through their involvement in an advisory capacity at Woodbrooke, Europe's only Quaker Study Centre, since the mid-1990s, and through their working together to produce a booklet and audio materials that are being distributed by the Quaker group Kindlers. The booklet and its related recording grew from a workshop that Hobby led for Kindlers in London in November 2011.
The findings of empirical research conducted by Professor Jim Barry and Dr Trudie Honour of UEL were shared at two focused capacity building sessions held in 2008 and 2009 for women leaders in middle and senior positions of responsibility and decision-making in the public and third sectors of a number of developing countries. Workshops were attended by women from Albania, Bahrain, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cameroon, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Tunisia, Turkey, and Uzbekistan. Participants considered the relevance and application of the research findings for their own countries, and worked together and with the researchers to formulate potential capacity development implementation strategies for women in positions of responsibility in those countries.
Research demonstrating the innovative contributions of early women writers to the cultural, socio-political, and economic life of their period has enhanced and broadened understanding of British and European literary traditions. It has contributed intellectually and economically to the heritage industry through Chawton House Library (CHL), a registered charity promoting early women's writing, and a range of other public organisations. Key findings of the research have been used to reinvigorate secondary school teaching and inspire those who occupy leadership roles in education, inform television documentary makers, and enthuse old and new readers internationally.
Centre for the History of Women's Education's research, exemplified by Goodman, had cultural and educational impact in girls' schools and supported heritage preservation. Girls' schools came to value their archives from research illustrating they contained unique evidence of teachers' work and women's lives. Goodman supported successful Heritage Lottery Funding (HlF) bids for two Centres for the History of Girls' Education, which delivered consultancy to other schools, impacting on curriculum development, and providing cultural impact beyond their schools. Research highlighting the importance of the British Federation of University Women impacted the preservation of their Library and supported relocation of their archive.
Dr Julie Gottlieb's research on women's politicization and gender roles in inter-war British extremist politics has had cultural impact in terms of the understanding of, and the coming to terms with, often uncomfortable and traumatic family memories. The personal and contemporary resonances of this research have led the media and the public, in particular the descendants of those still affected by the much-stigmatized political choices of their immediate ancestors, to become closely engaged with her work, serving to recover and understand overlooked histories. Of the audiences of hundreds who have heard her in person and hundreds of thousands who have listened to her on radio, several have contacted her with information and insights that signify a deeper understanding of the multi-faceted relationship between women and politics in the aftermath of suffrage, in particular during the crisis years between the world wars. Gottlieb's work has provided an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate women who have been sidelined in political history, providing a launching point for public discussion about women's political agency and representation almost a century after suffrage.
Research into contemporary women's writing that took place in the School of Cultural Studies and Humanities at Leeds Metropolitan University between 2000 and 2013 has contributed to the continuing personal and professional development of beneficiaries amongst the public, as well as postgraduate students significantly beyond the submitting HEI. The majority of these beneficiaries have engaged directly with this research in two ways: via the website (the Contemporary Women's Writing Association website, or its sister organisation the Postgraduate Contemporary Women's Writing Network website) or via a public lecture or event.
The impact of this case study is located in uncovering the contribution of Margaret Collier to the Anglo-Italian literary and cultural relations from Risorgimento to Resistance through her individual initiative as well as her legacy in the literary works and political commitment of her daughter, Giacinta Galletti, and grand-daughter, Joyce Salvadori. Impact is achieved through disseminating and promoting the understanding of this lesser-known intergenerational female legacy nationally and internationally through publications, conferences, and lectures in public domains; in translating texts previously available only in Italian; in broadening the knowledge of nineteenth- and twentieth-century British literary communities in Italy; and in deepening the understanding of concepts of nationality, multiculturalism, migration, otherness and difference.