"5 minutes with..." Kirstin Mitchell (MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit)
Published: 1 October 2022
Professor of Social Science and Public Health and Engagement Representative on our Athena Swan self assessment team, Kirstin Mitchell, tells us about the relational health topics on which her research focusses, feeling at home in SHW, and dancing more and working less...
Spend 5 minutes with MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Science's Kirstin Mitchell... (Professor of Social Science and Public Health)
Tell us a bit about what you do in SHW
I lead the Relationships and Health programme in MRC/CSO SPHSU – a team of about 25 researchers and PhD students. We explore human relationships in context to tackle key population health issues. We focus on inherently relational health topics (like loneliness), and public health priorities that are strongly influenced by relationships (like mental health and healthy ageing). We study relationships within social systems, at individual, peer group and community level, and we use relational theories – such as social network theory – to understand problems and test solutions to key public health challenges.
Within SHW, I serve as Engagement Lead (with Enni Pulkinnen), and sit on the Athena Swan SAT group to link between the work of this group and engagement activities in the wider university.
What do you enjoy about your role?
I love the variety and the feeling of being constantly on a learning curve. I love working with so many bright, energetic and collegiate people in SHW, as well as collaborating with third sector and government stakeholders.
What are the challenges?
Juggling it all. What keeps me awake at night is worrying about how to keep people funded and worrying whether I've done the right thing by people.
What is the best thing about working in SHW?
I'm inter-disciplinary and applied so it can be difficult to feel at home in traditional university structures. I feel right at home in SHW and I'm incredibly proud of our Athena Swan Gold status.
Tell us something we might not know about you
In my younger days I played for a football team called 'Camberwell Old Fallopians'. Our assorted friends and partners would shout 'go ON the TUBES' from the sidelines! Our claim to fame was that we once appeared in Rothman's Football Yearbook - we lost 8-0 in the first round of the Women's FA cup.
When or where are you happiest?
On, in or under water. My ultimate happy-moment is in a sailing dingy, going way too fast and barely in control. I spent a lot of my adult life living in Africa and so I've been lucky to have done some amazing scuba diving in the Indian ocean, white water rafting on the Zambezi and the Nile, and dingy sailing on Lake Victoria. Here in Scotland the water is SO much colder but on the upside, there is no Bilharzia, crocodiles or hippos (maybe a negligible risk of Nessie).
Tell us about something (or more than one thing!) you are proud of
Personally, I'm most proud of my three boys (as of 2022, they are 19, 17 and 12). They were high-energy (some would say wild) as youngsters, but now they are "emerging" as adults – thoughtful, kind and funny.
Work-wise I feel most proud when I get alongside health professionals and realise how much they rely on the research that we've produced.
If you could have your time again, what might you do differently?
I'd dance more and work less. But broadly I think I got the big things right – I've been lucky to share my life with some amazing people, and we've had lots of adventures.
Any secret – or not so secret! – ambitions?
I've just taken up tap-dancing (see previous answer!) and my very modest ambition is to make it to the intermediate class from the beginner class.
Do you have a favourite quote or saying, or mantra by which you try to live your life?
"Be kinder than necessary, as everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle". I find it helpful to remember this in a job centred on debate and critique.
My favourite sign was one we saw on the shores of Lake Victoria in Uganda. It simply said 'Crocodiles do not swim here'. No punctuation. We never knew whether it was a warning or a reassurance. Either way it seemed important!
If you would like to appear in "5 minutes with...", do please get in touch (shwadmin@glasgow.ac.uk)! We aim to feature colleagues from across a wide range of roles and grades within our school, both staff and students, research/teaching and professional services.
First published: 1 October 2022