School of Social & Political Sciences

Pictured (left to right): Professor Sally Wyke, Professor Moira Munro, Professor Mhairi MacKenzie, Professor Beatrice Heuser, Professor Michele Burman (Head of School of Social & Political Sciences), Professor Jude Robinson, Professor Eleanor Gordon, Professor Annette Hastings, Professor Gerda Reith, Professor Bridgette Wessels, Professor Bridget Fowler, Professor Jane Duckett, (not pictured, Professor Rebecca Kay)

This year's International Women's Day theme is #BalanceForBetter, with the message of a balanced world being a better world.

Our women professors leading world-changing research within the School of Social & Political Sciences have come together to mark the achievements of women around the world.

Together, they have decades of experience in research, teaching, and publications on a wide range of topics including Inequalities, International Relations, Politics, Criminology, Public Policy, Gender Studies, Health & Wellbeing, and Economic & Social History.

"International Women's Day is a chance to remind ourselves about how much progress has been achieved for some women. It’s also a chance to remind ourselves of the importance of safeguarding that progress and to keep pushing for more, particularly for women at home and internationally who haven’t had the luck and advantages that I have had." - Professor Annette Hastings, Professor of Urban Studies

"To me, International Women’s Day means a moment to pause, and reflect on achievements so far and what needs to be done to ensure equality for all women and to celebrate strong and inspiring women everywhere who have taken action and worked to make a difference in the world." - Professor Michele Burman, Professor of Criminology (Sociology) & Head of School

"International Women’s Day is about celebrating progress towards a fairer, more equal and egalitarian world.  I really want to celebrate the achievements of young women and the men who work with them to achieve the Better Balance we all need." - Professor Sally Wyke, Interdisciplinary Professor of Health & Wellbeing

"A few years ago, Johanna Brenner declared that “For women, these are the best of times and the worst of times!” She observed that for a minority – mainly middle class women, assumed to be meritocratic successes - there are no longer any limits on their aspirations.  The other side of the coin is that women of the subaltern classes are compelled increasingly to take poorly-paid employment, to work two jobs or even migrate, with their children left behind. Following Brenner, International Women’s Day should not be about celebrating the triumphs of a small cluster of female role models, however admirable some of them might be. Rather, it means allying ourselves with the great majority of women, many of whom who are battling against precarised, often sexually-vulnerable jobs, against rural land-grabs and against environmentally-damaging mining giants.  More subtly, it means refusing to let corporate liberal elites capture feminism to enhance their progressive aura, but instead associating ourselves with those women struggling, alongside others, against exploitation in the workplace and racialized domination." - Professor Bridget Fowler, Honorary Professor (Sociology)

"For me, International Women’s Day means taking time to reflect on the achievements of brave women who have fought for our rights. It is a day when women can come together to celebrate those achievements and be inspired to work for more — particularly on behalf of the poorest and most vulnerable." - Professor Jane Duckett, Edward Caird Chair of Politics 

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First published: 8 March 2019