Dr Ruth Pearce
- Lecturer in Community Development (School of Education)
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303XBiography
I am a Lecturer in Community Development in the School of Education. My work explores issues of inequality, marginalisation, power, and transformative political struggle from an interdisciplinary trans feminist perspective.
I joined the School and the Community Development Team in July 2021, having previously worked in the voluntary sector and in various precarious, part-time and/or fixed-term academic research, teaching, and administrative roles. It is very strange to have an open-ended role after a decade of job insecurity. I am committed to acknowledging the violence and exclusionary nature of this academic pathway, and fighting against precarity with and for my colleagues.
My PhD was awarded by the University of Warwick in 2016. My thesis looked at how trans health is differently understood within trans communities, activist groups and professional literatures, with a range of meanings and practices contested within and between these spaces. Findings from this work have been published in the book Understanding Trans Health (Policy Press, 2018).
I am co-Editor of the Community Development Journal, a Senior Fellow at the Center for Applied Transgender Studies, and also sit on the Editorial Board for the Bulletin of Applied Transgender Studies. I am a former member of the Editorial Board for the Sociological Review, and have undertaken peer review for many other leading journals and publishers.
You can read more about my work (and access free versions of most my academic publications) on my personal site: http://ruthpearce.net.
Research interests
I am interested in how communities of marginalised peoples can work to positively transform their own lives within, against, and outside of social, educational, and political institutions.
My research to date has included:
- BLA-HAJ (Culturally competent outcome measurement in trans youth healthcare) (2024-2028) -
international study looking at the design of valid care and well-being outcome indicators for young trans people. - Trans Pregnancy (2017-2021) - international research on pregnancy and childbirth among trans people as part of the ESRC-sponsored Trans Pregnancy project, plus a support role in the NHS-sponsored community project Improving Trans Experiences of Maternity Services (ITEMS).
- Queer, trans, and feminist music scenes (2012-2022) - a series of collaborative projects with Dr Kirsty Lohman, exploring cultural production and grassroots community development within DIY and punk spaces.
- Athena SWAN and equality accreditation (2017-2018) - a critical examination of equality accreditation within Higher Education, including a collaborative study with Dr Charoula Tzanakou.
- Understanding Trans Health (2010-2018) - a study of experiences and discourses associated with trans healthcare services in the UK.
I have also written on social research ethics and methodologies, plus trans and feminist politics. For more information, see my publications list and my personal website.
Grants
[Co-PI] Gender Joy: the embodied politics of sex, desire and oppression. 2022-2023. Reinvigorating Research Scheme, University of Glasgow. With Co-PI Katharine Jenkins. £14,116.
[Co-author] Trans Learning Partnership. 2022-2024. Cornerstone Fund. Charitable grant for Spectra CIC. £498,000.
[Lead author] Levelling the Field: Centering Trans People of Colour in Community Led Service Provision and Policy. 2021-2023. Esmée Fairbairn. Charitable grant for Spectra CIC. £370,000.
[Co-author] Trans Learning Partnership. 2021-2022. Trust for London. Charitable grant for Spectra CIC. £133,000.
[Co-I] Trans and non-binary people’s experiences of maternity services. 2020. NHS England commissioned research. With the National LGB&T Partnership. £40,000.
[PI] Trans health in Aotearoa New Zealand. 2019. Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship, University of Leeds. £2000.
[Co-I] Re-theorising Gender and Sexuality: The Emergence of Trans. 2012-2014. Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). With PI Professor Deborah Lynn Steinberg and Co-I Dr Lyndsey Moon. £15,000.
Travel grant for Gender, Bodies and Technology Conference (Roanoke, USA). 2012. American Study and Student Exchange Committee, University of Warwick. £770.
[PI] Understanding Trans Health. 2011-2016. Department of Sociological University of Warwick. £8320.
Supervision
Unfortunately, I am unable to lead on PhD supervision or applications for new students at present.
However, if you have already found a primary supervisor at the University of Glasgow, I welcome enquiries for the position of second supervisor from students interested in conducting social research on questions of sexuality, gender, feminist methodologies, and applied transgender studies, especially from an interdisciplinary social research perspective and/or within the field of community development.
I am currently supervising the following students at the University of Glasgow:
- Feng, Xuqing
How do trans people seeking assistance from gender identity clinics understand gender?
Supervised with Dr Francesca Stella (Social and Political Sciences).
- Edgoose, Han
Epistemic Injustice, Ideology, and Ignorance: An Analysis of the Trans Panic
2020-2023: Talen Wright (University College London) conducted an ESRC-sponsored doctoral study titled Trans and Non-binary Suicidality: Microaggressions & Mental Health.
Teaching
I teach or coordinate several courses for the BA Community Development and MEd/PgDip Adult Education, Community Development & Youth Work in the School of Education. This year's teaching includes:
BA Community Development (BACD)
- Introduction to Research (Year 3, semester 2)
- Research Project (Year 4, semesters 1+2: course lead)
MEd/PgDip Adult Education, Community Development, and Youth Work (ACY)
- Practitioner Research Project (semester 2: course lead)
In previous years I have taught on the following courses:
- Understanding Power in Communities (BACD Year 2, semester 1)
- Challenge, Change, and Action (BACD Year 2, semester 1)
- Approaches and Applied Research (BACD Year 4, semester 1)
- Research Methods (Ethics and Research in Communities) (ACY, semester 1)
Professional activities & recognition
Prizes, awards & distinctions
- 2021: Senior Fellow (Center for Applied Transgender Studies)
Grant committees & research advisory boards
- 2019 - 2021: Identifying the health and care needs of young trans and gender diverse people, Advisory Board
- 2017 - 2021: Living Gender in Diverse Times, Advisory Board
- 2023 - 2023: Scottish Government, Grant Committee: Long-Term Health Outcomes for Those Accessing Gender Identity Healthcare
Editorial boards
- 2021: Bulletin of Applied Transgender Studies
- 2018: Community Development Journal
- 2017 - 2022: The Sociological Review
Professional & learned societies
- , British Sociological Association
- , Feminist Studies Association of the UK and Ireland
- , Feminist Gender Equality Network
- , World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH)
- , European Professional Association for Transgender Health (EPATH)
- , Transgender Professional Association for Transgender Health (TPATH)
Selected international presentations
- 2024: WPATH Symposium (Lisbon, Portugal)
- 2024: International Trans Studies Conference (Chicago, USA)
- 2023: Politics of Fear: Gender, Sexuality and the Right Populism Today (Skopje, North Macedonia)
- 2022: Queer and Trans Mobilisations – Possibilities and Challenges (Krea University, India)
- 2021: TPATH Conference: Transgender Health and Activism (Online (international))
- 2020: Trans Pregnancy: Fertility, Reproduction and Body Autonomy (Leeds, England)
- 2019: Aotearoa New Zealand Trans Health Symposium (University of Waikato, Aotearoa New Zealand)
- 2019: Future research on LGBTQI issues in Finland (Åbo Akademi, Finland)
- 2019: Gender Equality and Athena SWAN (University College Cork, Ireland)
- 2019: American Sociological Association 2019 Annual Meeting (New York, USA)
- 2019: EPATH Conference (Rome, Italy)
- 2018: WPATH Symposium (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
- 2018: ISA World Congress of Sociology (Toronto, Canada)
- 2016: re:publica TEN (Berlin, Germany)
- 2016: WPATH Symposium (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
- 2012: Gender, Bodies and Technology (Roanoke, USA)
Supplementary
- I sit on Scotland's National Gender Identity Healthcare Reference Group and NHS Education for Scotland's Transgender Care Knowledge and Skills Framework Development Group. I have given expert advice on topics including trans health, sexual misconduct, and research design to a range of international, UK, and local organisations. These include the World Health Organization, India HIV/AIDS Alliance, NHS England, Stonewall, Nuffield Council for Bioethics, The 1752 Group, the National Union of Students, Scottish Trans Alliance, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Coventry City Council, Warwick District Council, Equality Challenge Unit, Equality and Human Rights Commission (who didn't listen much), and Kennet Furniture Refurbiz. I have participated in numerous government and NHS consultations, which has included presenting oral evidence to the House of Commons Women and Equalities Select Committee for the 2020 Inquiry on the Reform of the Gender Recognition Act.
