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Improving women's parliamentary representation in the UK

Summary of the impact

Research by Professor Sarah Childs has had wide-ranging influence in relation to improving women's parliamentary representation in the UK. This impact has taken the following forms. First, through her role as Specialist Adviser to the Speaker's Conference (2008-10), Childs helped set the agenda around the multiple issues and political practices (including legislative ones) that determine women's political representation. Second, she followed up on the Conference by presenting proposals on MPs' pay, assisting in the development of the Counting Women In campaign, and drawing attention to the implications of parenting for parliamentary representation. Third, Childs' research has been significant in promoting the adoption of strong equality promotion measures in the Conservative Party. This includes helping to secure acceptance in principle in 2009 by the then Leader of the Opposition David Cameron of All Women Shortlists. Her interventions have also accentuated the issue of women's representation in the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties, resulting in support for some of the measures Childs has advocated at the highest levels of those organizations. Thus, due in part to her research and argumentation, it is now more accepted amongst party elites and grassroots members alike, in all three principal UK political parties, that women's representation continues to be inadequate and requires urgent redress. More broadly, Childs has made political, public and civil society actors, as well as the wider public, more cognizant of the democratic deficit incurred when women, and women's interests and perspectives, are absent, under-represented or marginalized in parliamentary politics.

Submitting Institution

University of Bristol

Unit of Assessment

Politics and International Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Political Science, Other Studies In Human Society

Changing policy and influencing public ideas on gender and political representation

Summary of the impact

Research started by Professor Joni Lovenduski in 1992 and developed with Dr Rosie Campbell since 2003, influenced both policies about party political representation of women and the understandings of women's role in politics of party officials and activists. Showing that political recruitment, representation and participation are highly gendered — masculine — processes, Lovenduski and Campbell have successfully challenged the attitudes and contributed to changing processes that determine political equality between women and men. Both are routinely consulted about policy on political representation by political parties, UK government and parliament, the EU, and national and international organisations.

Submitting Institution

Birkbeck College

Unit of Assessment

Politics and International Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Political Science, Sociology

Women and Politics in France

Summary of the impact

Allwood's research into Women and Politics has looked at women's participation in mainstream and alternative forms of political activity; gender and policy, focusing on prostitution, violence and abortion policy; and the political participation of refugee women. The research has informed government advisory panels, think-tanks, and NGOs, in particular in debates around gender quotas and the relationship between gender and democracy. External voices and actors have helped shape the research process, and the audience of this research has made material and distinct decisions based on new insights effectively shared, as demonstrated by citations of research outputs in policy documents and discussion papers.

Submitting Institution

Nottingham Trent University

Unit of Assessment

Modern Languages and Linguistics

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Political Science, Sociology
Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies

Coming to terms with women’s engagement with political extremism in Britain

Summary of the impact

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.

Submitting Institution

University of Sheffield

Unit of Assessment

History

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Political Science
Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies

The Libertadoras: Engaging and empowering audiences and communities

Summary of the impact

Using a ground-breaking database of recovered narratives of Latin American women during the Wars of Independence,

  • new histories have been created and shared with audiences in Buenos Aires, London and Nottingham through exhibitions, workshops, guided city tours, theatre productions and translation programmes leading to new public knowledge and raised awareness;
  • drama and photography workshops have enabled a community of young Latin American migrant women in London to understand their collective heritage and cultural identity more fully, and through this understanding, to develop personal confidence and pride;
  • employees of Southwark Council have changed how they work with their growing Latin American community after participating in a cultural and language exchange series contributing to improved community cohesion.

Submitting Institution

University of Nottingham

Unit of Assessment

Modern Languages and Linguistics

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies, Literary Studies
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies

Women's Representation in Politics

Summary of the impact

Research undertaken by Dr Rainbow Murray in the School of Politics and International Relations (SPIR) at QMUL has assisted governments and activists from Europe, Israel and China interested in adopting gender quotas in elections to understand their potential advantages, pitfalls and consequences. Users of her research include parliaments, intergovernmental organisations, political parties, public bodies, NGOs and the media.

Submitting Institution

Queen Mary, University of London

Unit of Assessment

Politics and International Studies

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Political Science
Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies

Promoting Gender Equity in Public Sector Governance

Summary of the impact

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.

Submitting Institution

University of East London

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration, Sociology

Relieving the Crisis in Iraqi Higher Education Through Women & Gender Studies (Nadje Al-Ali)

Summary of the impact

More than twenty years of sanctions and war have decimated all areas of Iraqi society, including its higher education sector. In this context, the work of Professor Nadje Al-Ali has countered conservative forces pursuing Iraqi reconstruction in ways that explicitly marginalise women. Drawing on her research on women's rights in Iraq and beyond, Al-Ali has worked to raise consciousness of how perspectives informed by gender theory can contribute to a more equitable reconstruction of Iraqi civil society. Through in-country and regional training of academics and women's rights activists, and mentoring numerous Iraqi research projects, Al-Ali has substantially progressed the promotion of women's rights and gender-based equality in Iraq.

Submitting Institution

School of Oriental & African Studies

Unit of Assessment

Area Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Political Science, Other Studies In Human Society
Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies

Women offenders and criminal justice: challenging conventional wisdom and improving access to justice

Summary of the impact

Critical historical, empirical and theoretical research on women offenders is deeply embedded in the culture of criminology at Keele. Research undertaken by Anne Worrall and colleagues at Keele since 1993 (and for a decade before) has contributed towards changing attitudes and practice in the treatment of women offenders locally, nationally and internationally. The impact of our research is long-standing and has been sustained across several generations of researchers. Its significance lies in our ability to challenge conventional wisdom about women offenders, inform and stimulate practitioner debate, influence CPD, influence practice for a specific group, improve access to justice and give a voice to those affected by our research.

Submitting Institution

Keele University

Unit of Assessment

Social Work and Social Policy

Summary Impact Type

Legal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Criminology
Law and Legal Studies: Law

Shaping Policy on Microfinance in Rural India

Summary of the impact

Research by Dr Garikipati identifies that microfinance is most beneficial to women when it enables them to enhance their livelihoods and participate in the local enterprise economy. It also shows that over 80% of the microfinance loans in Andhra Pradesh, India, did not meet these conditions. Using these research findings, Dr Garikipati directly lobbied the Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP). This has had an impact on governmental organisations and other stakeholders within the microfinance industry and lead to the introduction of the Livelihood Enhancement Plan (LEP), which is used at the time of loan application. Dr Garikipati collaborated with the GoAP in designing and implementing the LEP. It impacts 500,000 women per year who join the microfinance program and enables them to enhance livelihoods in keeping with the demands of the local economy.

Submitting Institution

University of Liverpool

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Economic

Research Subject Area(s)

Economics: Applied Economics, Econometrics

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