Summary

Charlotte is Senior Lecturer in Education and Sociology with specialisms in gender and sexuality, higher education and feminist theory and pedagogies. She joined the University of Portsmouth in January 2020. Research interests relate to higher education cultures and gendered lives across the domains of work, care, intimacy and education. She is committed to inclusive, social justice orientated practices and pedagogies in higher education. She is a member of the Sociology and Social Theory, Higher Education and Women and Gender Studies research groups at the university and, with Dr Ann Emerson, leads the Education, Social Justice and Transformation research group. Charlotte is currently serving as an external examiner on Masters Education programmes at the University of Glasgow and University of York. She is also a School Governor with a focus on inclusion at a local Primary School.

She previously taught across Sociology, Education and Gender Studies at the University of Sussex (2014 - 2020) where she completed a PhD Gender Studies in the Department of Sociology in 2014. Her PhD thesis in the field of Sociology of Personal Life and intimacy explored single mothers' narratives of intimate lives. Prior to and alongside her doctoral studies, she has also held posts as Research Fellow with the Centre for Higher Education & Equity Research and as a Researcher in the field of learning and teaching in higher education at Anglia Ruskin University and the University of Brighton (from 2005 onwards). She has led projects in the field of widening participation; undergraduate and postgraduate learning; student disabilities, mental health, wellbeing and resilience; student parents and carers and experiences of early career women academics.

Charlotte has published in journals such as Gender and Education, Sociological Research Online, Journal of Gender Studies, Feminism and Psychology and Families, Relationships and Society. Currently she is researching and writing on feminist pedagogical responses to ‘post-truth’ populist contexts and academic precarity in relation to gender and intersectional inequalities. Charlotte conducts peer reviews for the Journal of Graduate and Postgraduate studies, Higher Education, British Educational Research Journal, Sociological Research Online, Women's Studies International and the Journal of Gender Studies. She is an executive member of the Gender and Education Association and member of the Society for Research in Higher Education, International Studies Association and British Sociological Association. 

Biography

My journey of higher education research began in 2005, working on projects relating to student mental health and wellbeing at Anglia Ruskin University. During this time I undertook my first teaching experiences, guest lecturing on the MA Women's Studies, teaching Sociology of the Family and contributing to a social sciences course for Education foundation students. I then spent five years (2006 - 2011) as a professional researcher in the Centre for Learning and Teaching at the University of Brighton where I led and completed projects in doctoral learning, students with hidden disabilities, student mental health and wellbeing, student parents and carers and inclusive teaching practices which had a positive impact and led to institutional change. This work also involved designing and delivering staff and student development activities. I completed my PG Cert Higher Education and obtained my Fellowship of the HEA at the University of Brighton in 2015.

I have also worked as a Student Support and Guidance Tutor, providing pastoral care and academic support to students at the University of Brighton (2011 - 2018) and supporting student experience and retention, as a Sage Research Hive Scholar, developing peer learning, development and support for doctoral researchers, as a Research Assistant for colleagues at the Centre for Gender Studies at the University of Sussex and as a Research Fellow with the Centre for Higher Education & Equity Research (CHEER) at the University, where I remain an associate.

Following my PhD completed in the department of Sociology (2014), I taught at the University of Sussex until 2020. In Sociology I taught on courses such as Sociology of the 21st Century, Gender and the Lifecourse and Constructing Sexualities. I led a Sociology and MA Gender Studies module Politics of the Body and MA Gender Studies Dissertation. In the department of Education I contributed to a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses. I developed and led a social sciences foundation course entitled 'Cradle to the Grave: Welfare and Wellbeing across the Lifecourse' (2017 - 2020) as part of an award winning team  (Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence with Advance HE). During my time at Sussex I contributed to a Professional Development course for leaders in learning and teaching at Nigerian Universities, travelled to Japan to learn about their higher education system and also taught a Summer School on Gender-based Violence (2017 - 2020).

Research interests

Charlotte is a gender and sexuality specialist with research interests in (1)  Higher Education cultures, identities and intersectional inequalities; (2) Family, personal life and intimacy and (3) Higher Education practices and pedagogies, in relation to inclusivity and social justice.

Charlotte is currently leading a British Academic funded project entitled 'Teaching in Turbulent Times: Recognising and Responding to contemporary populist discourses about universities in UK higher education.'

She is also undertaking research on teaching gender in higher education in challenging times.

Charlotte has recently undertaken research on the experiences of women academics in precarious employment. Since 2020 she has been leading an International working group on Gender and Precarity in Academia. This is part of the European universities critical futures project, funded by the Danish Research Council.

Charlotte has collaborated with colleagues in Nigeria, investigating experiences of women in Nigerian higher education. See here for information.

Teaching responsibilities

Charlotte leads the following modules:

• Understanding Personal Life (Sociology and Childhood and Youth Studies undergraduate levels 5 and 6);
• Developing Your Sociological Imagination - first year Sociology undergraduates including tutorials and study skills workshops);
• Gender and Sexuality (Sociology Levels 5 and 6).
• Emotions, intimacies, affects (MSc Sociology).

She has also contributed to the following modules: 

Social Inequalities (Sociology undergraduate); Research Design and Analysis (Sociology undergraduate); Class, inequality and the lifecourse (Sociology undergraduate); The Sociology of Education (Sociology & Childhood and Youth studies undergraduate);  Equality or Liberation? (Sociology undergraduates); Health and Wellbeing (Childhood and Youth Studies undergraduate) and Gender, race and education (Childhood and Youth Studies undergraduate);

Professional Practice and Research Project (EdD), Approaches to Education and Contemporary Perspectives in Education (MA Education). 

Charlotte also delivers sessions for the Graduate School for staff and postgraduate students.