Professor Barbara Read
- Professor of Education (Educational Leadership & Policy)
email:
Barbara.Read@glasgow.ac.uk
St Andrew's Building, 11 Eldon Street, Glasgow, G3 6nh
Biography
Please note that due to lack of capacity I am unfortunately not able to take on any more PhD/EdD students for the next two years (Academic years 24/25 and 25/26).
Career
I am a sociologist of education, with an interdisciplinary background in history, social anthropology, and women's studies. Currently Professor of Education 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.
I currently serve as one of the Editors of British Educational Research Journal.
Current University Roles:
I am currently one of two Deputy Directors of Research for the School of Education, and a member of the University Senate.
Research interests
Please note that due to lack of capacity I am unfortunately not able to take on any more PhD/EdD students for the next two years (Academic year 24/25 and 25/26).
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
- poststructuralist theory, especially Foucault and Butler
Grants
Economic and Social Research Council Grant: Transforming Disabled Girlhoods: Addressing Educational Inequalities Through Creative and Inclusive Practice, Policy, and Research. (Postdoctoral Fellowship Mentor for Award Holder Dr Amanda Ptolomey) (Award: £114,799). Oct 2024- Sep 2025.
British Council Grant: Enhancing Teacher Education in STEM through a Linguistic Lens: a Cross-Curricular and Transnational Effort Challenging Gender Stereotypes (Co-I) (Award: £15,000). Jan-July 2022.
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 students supervising:
Abimbola Abodunrin (University of Glasgow Scholarship, 2021-present) ‘Decolonising British Higher Education’.
Kashfi Ahmed (University of Glasgow Scholarship, 2023-present). 'Pathway to Prosperity or Perish: The Impact on Lived Experiences Stemming from Intersectional Barriers Faced by Black and Ethnic Minority STEM Early Career Researchers on Career Attainment and Success at Scottish Universities'.
Tahsina Akbar (University of Glasgow Scholarship, 2019- present) 'Power and Resistance: Exploring the conceptions and experiences of gender and career aspirations of young people in Bangladesh’.
Michael Malt (ESRC Scholarship, 2022-present). 'Living Through Assessment: Towards a working-class lived experience understanding of assessment in Higher Education'.
Daniel Perry (University of Glasgow Scholarship, 2022-present) 'Orientating Higher Education Curriculum Development: Navigating influences of curriculum makers decisions with postcolonial and queer perspectives'.
Emily Thomson (2018-present) 'Gender and Care: Modern Apprenticeships in Scotland'.
Jane Umutoni (University of Glasgow Scholarship, 2022-present) 'Examining the Role of Mentoring Programs in Bridging the STEM Gender Gap at the University of Rwanda'.
Alexander Vániev (University of Glasgow Scholarship, 2022-present) 'Exploring the development of doctoral students’ pedagogical competencies during and beyond their doctoral studies: a comparative actor-network look at core (f)actors in three Scottish universities'.
EdD Students supervising:
Jillian Barker (2022-present): 'What are the experiences and perceptions of practitioners on the recruitment and inclusion of men into Out of School Care Services?'
- Abodunrin, Abimbola
Decolonizing British Higher Education - Akbar, Tahsina
Exploring Conceptions of Gender and Career Aspirations of young people utilizing a gender-sensitive curriculum in Rural Bangladesh ( - Malt, Michael
Living Through Assessment: Towards a working-class lived experience understanding of assessment in HE - Perry, Dan
Orientating Higher Education Curriculum Development: - Thomson, Emily
Gender and Care Modern Apprenticeships in Scotland - Vaniev, Alexander
Exploring sociomaterial practices and core (f)actors contributing to early career academic teacher development: an actor-network theory perspective
PhD Students completed:
Nuramira Anuar, 'Transnational Journeys: Changing Identities, Perceptions and Experiences of Malaysian Doctoral Students Studying in the UK'. Awarded 2019. University of Glasgow.
Louise Couceiro (ESRC Scholarship). 'A New Wave of Non Fiction Feminist Children’s Literature: Children’s Responses and Perceptions'. Awarded 2023. University of Glasgow.
Nicola Dickson 'Exploring the Relationships between Arts-Informed Adult Learning and the Recovery Journey of Women who have experienced Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA)'. Awarded 2023. University of Glasgow.
Mei Hu (CSC Scholarship). 'How gender, ethnicity and social class impact international students’ misrecognition and exclusion in UK Higher Education'. Awarded 2024. University of Glasgow.
Oisin Kealy (University Scholarship, 2018-2023). 'Human Rights Films Festivals in South America: Three Models of Rights in Translation'. Awarded 2023. 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 2020. University of Glasgow.
Louise Sheridan, ‘Youth Participation in Scotland: Key Features and Influences on Practice and Participation'. Awarded 2018. University of Glasgow.
Yue Song, 'Children of Migrant Workers in Urban High Schools: an Analysis of the Dual Role of Education'. Awarded 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 2018. University of Glasgow.
Keyu Zhai (CSC Scholarship), 'Social Mobility and Undergraduates in China'. Awarded 2020. University of Glasgow.
EdD Students completed:
Julie Alderton, 'Pedagogical Discourses and Subjectivities in Primary Mathematics Initial Teacher Education'. Awarded 2013. University of Roehampton.
Penny Anderson, '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'. Awarded 2023. University of Glasgow.
Jamie DeYoung, 'Supporting Undergraduate Female Engineering Students at an Evangelical Higher Education Institution in the United States'. Awarded 2023. University of Glasgow.
Rosalie Doherty, 'The Broken Triangle: Women's Gender Based Oppression, Community Development and the Promotion of Women's Health and Wellbeing in Ireland'. Awarded 2019. University of Glasgow.
Judith Lee, 'Reframing Intercultural Education in Edu-Business: A Decolonising Approach'. University of Glasgow.
Additional information
I am currently the Mentor for an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship (2024-2025), Awardholder, Dr Amanda Ptolomey: Disabled Girlhoods: Addressing Educational Inequalities Through Creative and Inclusive Practice, Policy, and Research.
From February 2020 to June 2024 I was the Prinicipal Investigator of the Gendered Journeys project, a large international project, funded by an ESRC GCRF grant. 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.
I am currently one of the Editors of British Educational Research Journal. I am also on the Editorial Board of the Gender and Education journal, and from 2009-2024 was on the Editorial Board of International Studies in Sociology of Education. 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 grant proposals for the ESRC.
From 2022-2023 I was co-lead, with Dr Charlotte Morris of the University of Portsmouth, of the Gender and Precarity in Academia network, part of the European Universities: Critical Futures project (PI Prof Susan Wright) funded by the Danish Research Council.