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WOMEN
RESEARCHERS
INSPIRING RESEARCH CAREER JOURNEYS
This exhibition celebrates the career journeys of a selection
of our women researchers. The women in the photographs
represent just a small selection of the fantastic women
researchers who work across different disciplines at
various levels across QMU.

Queen Margaret University

(QMU) is committed to
creating and celebrating a
positive, inclusive research
environment based on
respect for individuals
differences, in which
students and staff are
actively encouraged to
reach their full potential.
Our objective is to continue
to develop as an institution
that understands, appreciates
and values the diversity
of each individual, makes
people feel valued and able to
participate and reach their
full potential.

Since our inception in 1875 we have had a long history of

achievement in championing and progressing the role of
women. Our founders Christian Guthrie Wright and Louisa
Stevenson, were key influencers in the UK-wide mid Victorian
Womens Movement, which was a campaign for better
education and improved career opportunities for females.
Today we are proud to be one of the first UK and European
institutions to be awarded and to retain the HR Excellence
Award, bestowed by the European Commission, recognising a
universitys commitment to improving the working conditions
and career development of its research staff through the
Concordat for Research Careers.
We are also pleased to be actively involved in a number of
sector initiatives to promote and embed good practice in
Equality and Diversity in Research Careers including the Vitae
Every Researcher Counts initiative. The School of Health
Sciences commitment to addressing gender inequalities
in science and to improving career progression for female
academics has been recognized by Athena SWAN and we will
continue to champion gender equality initiatives beyond the
conventional STEM domain to include initiatives such as Aurora.
We hope this exhibition will inspire others both within QMU
and beyond.
Professor Petra Wend PhD FRSA FRSE
Principal and Vice-Chancellor

QMU Athena Swan

Bronze Award
In 2013, Queen Margaret University was delighted to receive
the Bronze Athena SWAN Award in light of its commitment
to assisting the recruitment and retention of women
in science, engineering and technology (SET).
The Athena SWAN
Charter is a recognition
scheme for UK universities
and their science,
engineering and technology
(SET) departments. It aims
to assist the recruitment,
retention and progression
of women in SET.

Queen Margaret University is committed to the principles

of the Charter and values equality and diversity
across its workforce. To support these principles and to
promote the role of women in SET, the University has
undertaken an internal self-assessment process and has
been successful in gaining a Bronze SWAN Award.
The University sees membership of the Charter, with
its bronze, silver and gold SWAN recognition awards,
as working towards sustaining equitable working
environments enabling QMU to identify itself as an
employer of choice, not only to its staff, but to students,
stakeholders, research councils and industry.

As a child,
I sometimes played
in my mums lab.

Dr PATRYCJA
STRYCHARCZUK
RESEARCH FELLOW, SPEECH AND HEARING SCIENCES

Im Dr Patrycja Strycharczuk, and I do research on how and

why sounds of language change. Sound change is something
were not normally aware of, yet somehow we sound slightly
differently from our parents or our grandparents.
What is more, we often find that small
and even barely audible changes in
pronunciation are in fact constrained in
highly complex ways. In my research, I try
to understand the structure of various
factors which influence sound change, by
analysing the speech of people in different
age groups at multiple levels, from the
underlying tongue and lip movements to
the resulting sound.

R A T I N G

WOMEN
RESEARCHERS
INSPIRING
RESEARCH CAREER
JOURNEYS

As a child, I sometimes
played in my mums lab, and
she would show me how
you can see the structure
of cells under a microscope.
My field of research today is
very different from hers, but
there is the same thrill of
uncovering something hidden
through careful observation.

I remember as a
child wondering how it
would feel to be able to
recognise words in such
mysterious languages.

Dr MARIA
PAOLA BISSIRI
RESEARCH FELLOW, SPEECH AND HEARING SCIENCES

I am Dr Maria Paola Bissiri, I hold a PhD in Phonetics from the

Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich in Germany. In my research
work I compare native with non-native speech productions and
investigate speech perception in different languages.
I have been investigating
non-native German
and non-native English
speech, and speech
perception by native
German, English, Italian,
Spanish, Czech, Swedish
and Mandarin listeners.

R A T I N G

WOMEN
RESEARCHERS
INSPIRING
RESEARCH CAREER
JOURNEYS

I have worked as a Research Fellow in several institutions

across Europe: the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich,
the Charles University in Prague, the University of the Basque
Country in Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spain), the University of Bristol,
and the Technical University of Dresden (Germany).
I am happy to work as a researcher, because this allows me to
learn something new every day.
I have always been fascinated by language. I remember
listening to foreign languages as a child and wondering how it
would feel to be able to recognise words in such mysterious
languages. I grew up in Sardinia from Sardinian-Italian bilingual
parents. Sardinian, an archaic Romance language, is a UNESCO
endangered language.

Dr MARIETTA
VAN DER LINDEN
SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW, PHYSIOTHERAPY

I am Dr Marietta van der Linden and I am doing research on

how exercise and assistive technology can improve the ability
to perform activities of daily living in people with a neurological
condition such as Multiple Sclerosis or Cerebral Palsy.
Examples of our research are
Pilates for people with MS
who use a wheelchair and a
community exercise programme
for young people with Cerebral
Palsy. Exercise can be a way of
self-management, i.e. people
can take care of their condition
themselves, instead of relying on
drugs or surgical interventions.

Assistive technologies to aid walking such

as splints allow people to walk further and
more easily which can positively impact their
participation and general health.
Finding out from study participants how
they feel a certain intervention has positively
impacted their function and then showing
these benefits through objectively measured
outcomes is probably the most rewarding
aspect of my area of research.

Finding out from study

participants how they
feel is probably the most
rewarding aspect of my
area of research.

R A T I N G

WOMEN
RESEARCHERS
INSPIRING
RESEARCH CAREER
JOURNEYS

I am passionate
about improving the
patient journey through
stroke services.

GAIL CARIN-LEVY
SENIOR LECTURER, OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY AND ART THERAPY

Im an Occupational Therapy Lecturer currently in the

closing stretches of a part time PhD. I am interested
in researching various aspects of life after stroke,
currently my main focus is on the process of identifying
a delirium in the acute stages of stroke.
My past work has examined the value of engaging
in purposeful activities, which is another area which
I am passionate about - particularly the field of
physical activities as contributors to the quality of
life of various groups of people.
Im fortunate to have been able to work with
Professor Gillian Mead, a UK expert on life after
stroke. She has inspired me to pursue my areas of
research and to widen my research portfolio, so that
I have gained invaluable experience utilising a wide
variety of research methodologies.

R A T I N G

O
U

I am passionate about
improving the patient
journey through stroke
services and after
completing my PhD I
plan to continue my
research into various
aspects of stroke care.

WOMEN
RESEARCHERS
INSPIRING
RESEARCH CAREER
JOURNEYS

Dr LINDA
FERRINGTON

I enjoyed the
laboratory experience
I obtained at
undergraduate level.

LECTURER, DIETETICS, NUTRITION AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

Following completion of my BSc (Hons) in Biological and Health Sciences

at Queen Margaret University, I undertook a PhD in neuroscience at
Queen Margaret University, in collaboration with researchers in Cognitive
and Neural Systems at the University of Edinburgh.
My recent research focused on
investigating the involvement of
cerebrovascular dysfunction in the
pathogenesis of Alzheimers disease,
and potential therapeutic strategies
for the disease. In particular I focused
on the role of hypertension in the
pathophysiology of Alzheimers
disease, and the mechanisms by which
anti-hypertensive drugs may confer
protection against cognitive decline.

R A T I N G

WOMEN
RESEARCHERS
INSPIRING
RESEARCH CAREER
JOURNEYS

I also have interests in the impact of stress-induced

metabolic disease upon Alzheimers disease. This
experience is invaluable in my current teaching on
a wide range of courses within Dietetics, Nutrition
and Biological Sciences.
I was taught at undergraduate level by several
inspiring lecturers, who sparked my interest in
undertaking research, and introduced me to a team
of enthusiastic researchers. I enjoyed the laboratory
experience I obtained at undergraduate level and
was lucky to be able to embark on a PhD which
cemented my interests.

Dr KATH
MACDONALD
SENIOR LECTURER, NURSING

Im Dr Kath MacDonald. Im a Senior Lecturer and a registered

Nurse. I worked for many years in the Health Service as a Clinical
Nurse Specialist with young people with a long term condition
and it is this work that has inspired my research.
I completed my Professional
Doctorate last year exploring
the theme of partnership
between young expert
patients and health care
providers. As a mature
student I value education and
have extended my research
interests into this area.

I am passionate about the student experience.

My own experiences as a mature learner at Queen
Margaret University through the Masters and
Doctorate programmes have been positive ones
and I want to ensure this continues in both our
undergraduate and post graduate programmes.
My inspiration was predominantly the client group
with whom I worked and a motivation to enhance
service delivery. I was hugely supported by Dr
Shona Cameron my Director of Studies and my
academic colleagues.

My inspiration was
predominantly the
client group with
whom I worked and a
motivation to enhance
service delivery.

R A T I N G

WOMEN
RESEARCHERS
INSPIRING
RESEARCH CAREER
JOURNEYS

I hate
seeing people
excluded and
marginalised.

Dr ALISON STRANG
SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW,
INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Im Dr Alison Strang, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for

International Health and Development at Queen Margaret University.
I hate seeing people excluded
and marginalised. This is reflected
in my work with communities
affected by conflict and disaster,
as well as refugees and asylum
seekers. I use qualitative methods
to explore the ways people make
sense of their own lives, and
communicate findings with service
providers and policymakers.

R A T I N G

WOMEN
RESEARCHERS
INSPIRING
RESEARCH CAREER
JOURNEYS

Sometimes this involves developing a conceptual model,

other times a practical tool. I get most satisfaction when
I see that research leads to changes in practice! I am
closely involved in policy and practice through leading
the humanitarian online Mental Health and Psychosocial
Support Network, and New Scots: Integrating Refugees in
Scotlands Communities strategy.
I was first inspired by Dr Eunice Belbin, my first employer,
who was a pioneer woman researcher in the 1950s. She
and her husband developed the influential Belbin Team
Roles management model. She taught me to believe in
myself, trust my instincts and keep going until I could see
the impact of my efforts.

You do not have to

be in perfect health
to safely perform
physical exercise.

Dr PELLY KOUFAKI
POST DOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOW, PHYSIOTHERAPY

I am Dr Pelagia Koufaki and I am research trained (PhD)

as a Clinical Exercise Physiologist.
My ultimate aim is to develop and evaluate approaches that
people are more likely to implement in their daily lives either
in clinical or community based settings. Exercise during
renal dialysis, is an example of effective implementation of
a therapeutic treatment, that brings about multiple health
benefits for people who need them the most.
I was trained to become a PE teacher or a sports coach.
However, as a 3rd year student, I attended a week-long seminar
on Cardiac Rehabilitation, which although not a novel idea,
was not a widely recommended/known practice. When I grew
up, a common piece of doctors advice for people with health
conditions was to rest, slow down or take it easy and I
was therefore inspired by the clinical application of the idea,
that you do not have to be in perfect health to safely perform
physical exercise. That was the beginning of my interest in
health enhancing exercise applications and has been sustained
by interacting with the actual people who need it the most.

R A T I N G

O
U

For the last 15 years I have

been conducting clinical
research focusing on the
effectiveness of exercise
and physical activity
interventions as therapeutic
modalities for optimizing
functional independence
and reducing cardiovascular
health risks in people with
long term cardiometabolic
conditions such as kidney
and cardiac disease.

WOMEN
RESEARCHERS
INSPIRING
RESEARCH CAREER
JOURNEYS

Dr JANE HISLOP
LECTURER, PHYSIOTHERAPY

Im Dr Jane Hislop, Im a Physiotherapy Lecturer who has a research

interest in measurement of physical activity. When I started my part-time
PhD research I was interested in the factors which were contributing to
the childhood obesity epidemic and I came across Professor John Reillys
research in the area of physical activity of preschool children.
This research questioned the
assumption that young children were
sufficiently active for health and
highlighted that there were several
questions regarding how we accurately
measure physical activity behaviour in
this population. My research therefore
stemmed from an interest to try and
address these questions and propose a
protocol for accurately measuring the
physical activity behaviour of
young children at a population level,
using accelerometers.

This research is important for understanding

physical activity behaviour of young children. In
addition, it is only through accurate quantifcation of
physical activity behaviour that the effectiveness of
interventions to change physical activity behaviour
can be determined.
My PhD supervisor Professor John Reilly was
an inspiration, with his research into childhood
obesity and the development of physical activity
behaviour in children. Johns research has focused
on interventions for the prevention of child and
adolescent obesity and the consequences of obesity
and low levels of physical activity in children and
adolescents globally. This research highlighted that
from an early age children were at risk of health
problems as a consequence of low levels of physical
activity and high levels of sedentary behaviour.

When I started my
part-time PhD research
I was interested in the factors
which were contributing
to the childhood
obesity epidemic.

R A T I N G

WOMEN
RESEARCHERS
INSPIRING
RESEARCH CAREER
JOURNEYS

I have experienced
the challenges of
delivering health care
in resource-poor
countries first-hand.

Dr KARINA
KIELMANN
SENIOR LECTURER,
INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Im a Medical Anthropologist who has been working in

international public health settings for nearly 15 years
most recently in India and South Africa.
As an anthropologist working on strengthening
health systems with government and nongovernmental organizations, my aims are to
analyse, document, and ensure that local health
workers experiences and voices are heard
and adequately taken account of in TB and HIV
programming.
I have experienced the challenges of delivering
health care in resource-poor countries first-hand;
my parents worked in international public health
in diverse settings and I retain vivid impressions
from these formative years. Additionally, excellent
guidance received later from Professors Margaret
Lock and Barbara McPake inspired me to pursue a
critical yet humane path of public health research,
grounded in the subjective experiences of health
providers and communities.

R A T I N G

O
U

My work examines how health

systems and health workers
respond to the demands of global
health initiatives in tuberculosis
(TB) and HIV care. Often, clinical
effectiveness of new diagnostic
technologies or treatment
regimens may not translate into
their workability in settings
where health workers face severe
shortages of resources, and a
lack of training, supervision, and
adequate incentives.

WOMEN
RESEARCHERS
INSPIRING
RESEARCH CAREER
JOURNEYS

I encountered women
who had managed the lot:
be a successful researcher,
a brilliant teacher,
a mum...

Dr SONJA
SCHAEFFLER
LECTURER, SPEECH AND HEARING SCIENCES

Im a Speech Scientist. I have degrees in both Phonetics and Psychology,

and my research takes place in the borderland between these two
disciplines. I use phonetic methodology and instrumentation (most
notably Ultrasound Tongue Imaging) to explore psycholinguistic topics.
My projects have included work on
articulatory settings in bilingual
speakers, speech planning and verbal
reaction time protocols.
Ive been curious about language and
speech for as long as I can think, and
the equipment we have available here at
Queen Margaret University takes things
one step further. Not only can I find out
how things work when we speak, I can
investigate aspects of speech production
that are normally hidden from view (for
example movements of the tongue).

R A T I N G

WOMEN
RESEARCHERS
INSPIRING
RESEARCH CAREER
JOURNEYS

When I first started studying in Munich leading roles

were mostly occupied by men, and looking at the
few research active women it very much seemed an
academic career was not compatible with having any
(family) life to speak of. An exchange semester at UCL
London drastically changed my view of things.
Here I encountered women who had managed the lot:
be a successful researcher, a brilliant teacher, a mum...
Professor Valerie Hazan was one of those inspirational
figures. Somewhat more optimistic about a career
in academia I applied for a PhD at Stirling University.
My supervisor, Professor Vera Kempe, turned out to
be yet another stellar example of this new breed of
academic women. She was adamant that you could
and should do it all (she had her second baby a few
weeks after my viva, just to prove a point I think!).
And so I try.

I appreciate
researching areas where
I have the opportunity
to influence policy
which will enhance the
consumer experience.

CAROL BRENNAN
READER, BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND MANAGEMENT

I am Carol Brennan. My role is Reader in Consumer Policy

and Director of the Consumer Insight Centre.
I have recently conducted
research on using complaints
to drive innovation in public
services (for Nesta), the
outcome of complaints (for
the Care Inspectorate), and on
models of Alternative Dispute
Resolution (for the Legal
Ombudsman). My academic
research is published in
international journals.

R A T I N G

WOMEN
RESEARCHERS
INSPIRING
RESEARCH CAREER
JOURNEYS

I regularly conduct commissioned research. I enjoy

working with research teams in the Consumer Insight
Centre and engaging with policy and research staff
in external organisations. The research is presented
to colleagues at all levels of organisations and shapes
service improvements. I appreciate researching areas
where I have the opportunity to influence policy which
will enhance the consumer experience.
The field of consumer policy is very dynamic and
complex with a wide range of research opportunities.
I regularly participate in conferences and find many of
the speakers inspiring. The opportunity to learn from
colleagues in this area has inspired me to conduct
research which will make a difference.

Now editing
the book,
Carnival, Culture,
and Tourism.

Dr VIOLET CUFFY
LECTURER, BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND MANAGEMENT

I am Dr Violet V Cuffy, Lecturer in Tourism Management.

My research focus has been on tourism education and training
from a destination perspective, with emphasis on lifelong
education, collaboration, and co-creation of the curriculum.
The main objective is to educate, engage, and entertain UK born
young descendants of the Commonwealth of Dominica (my
homeland) on core aspects of the Dominican heritage and culture.
Related research involves ethnographic studies and exploration of
developing theories on culture and diaspora tourism among this
second, third and fourth generation niche market.
Waitukubuli Culture and Tourism Initiative Documentary:
https://youtu.be/ru8DZhFKa1g
Most of my siblings were teachers; so unsurprisingly my career
began as a high school teacher. Thus, formal education and training
in teaching and learning at an earlier stage of my professional life
has shaped my philosophy and continued interest in the principles
and practice of education and training. My background and personal
involvement in the rich carnival and creole culture of the Caribbean
married to my love for travel and tourism drives my research in the
area of carnival, culture, and diaspora tourism.

R A T I N G

O
U

I am passionate about
culture and diaspora
tourism. Now editing the
book, Carnival, Culture, and
Tourism which addresses
displaced carnivals and how
the diaspora utilises and
merges space and identity.
I am the founder of the
Waitukubuli Culture and
Tourism Initiative launched
in October 2014.

WOMEN
RESEARCHERS
INSPIRING
RESEARCH CAREER
JOURNEYS

My inspiration is
my mother, she has
inspired me to believe in
the importance of education
for achieving equality
and making the world
a better place.

Dr REBECCA
FINKEL
SENIOR LECTURER, BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND MANAGEMENT

Dr Rebecca Finkel is a critical Events Geographer. As part

of the Universitys commitment to relevance, sustainability
and championing of social change, my research centres on
identity, social justice and events management.
This is a shift in focus from
my PhD exploring the role of
cultural festivals in the creative
economy. Events Management
is an emerging research field,
so I was able to identify an
area under-represented in the
literature to conduct impactful
research and produce
innovative outputs.

R A T I N G

WOMEN
RESEARCHERS
INSPIRING
RESEARCH CAREER
JOURNEYS

New research is framed within conceptualisations

of gender identity, cultural events and resistance
to globalisation, as well as mapping human rights
and special events, currently focusing on the
links between sex work, human trafficking and
international sporting events.
My inspiration is my mother, Dr Madelon Lubin
Finkel, Professor of Clinical Public Health and
Director of the Office of Global Health Education
at Weill Cornell Medical College. A champion for
womens health, she has inspired me to believe in
the importance of education for achieving equality
and making the world a better place.

The past
we inherit,
the future
we build.

Dr MARION
ELLISON
SENIOR LECTURER, PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY

I am Dr Marion Ellison, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Queen

Margaret University. As the leader of a major European
Employment Research Study in Scotland (INSPIRES) my
aspiration is to make a difference to the lives of young people
across Europe by anticipating the future challenges they face.
I am currently co-ordinating the work of my European
colleagues as we identify and closely evaluate innovative
knowledge, technology and policy approaches that
improve the resilience and active inclusion of labour
markets for young people and other vulnerable groups
across Europe. For more information about INSPIRES
please visit the website: http://www.inspires-research.eu
or contact me at mellison@qmu.ac.uk
Throughout my research career I have been strongly
motivated by an ambition to improve the lives of
vulnerable groups in society. In contributing to and
expanding knowledge in social policy, sociology and
professional practice I have always been inspired by the
belief that The past we inherit, the future we build.

R A T I N G

O
U

INSPIRES (Innovative
Social and Employment
Policies for Inclusive and
Resilient Labour Markets
in Europe project) is
a partnership of 12
other leading European
universities. Contributing
to this work is of great
personal significance.

WOMEN
RESEARCHERS
INSPIRING
RESEARCH CAREER
JOURNEYS

It was their
independence of mind
and autonomy that
I admired.

PROFESSOR
JACQUIE LETANG
PROFESSOR, MEDIA, COMMUNICATION AND PERFORMING ARTS

Along with my colleague Dr Magda Pieczka my work since

the early 1990s has been concerned with stimulating and
extending critical perspectives in public relations and
opposing the dominant functional agenda in the field.
Starting my academic career
in a positivist discipline in a
positivist marketing department
forced me to question the
status quo and to articulate
alternative perspectives,
however uncomfortable. A
major part of my work has been
concerned with the histories,
herstories and historiographies
of the public relations field, and
the role of communications in
societal change.

R A T I N G

WOMEN
RESEARCHERS
INSPIRING
RESEARCH CAREER
JOURNEYS

I have written and co-edited several books, the most

recent are: a collected volume of historical essays
(2014), a text on sports public relations (2013) and a
collection of more than 30 monographical essays on
critical public relations (2015, in press).
Although I was not taught by any women during
my first degree in English & American History at
the University of East Anglia in the mid 1970s,
subsequently I interviewed feminist academics,
Cora Kaplan and Jacqueline Rose (while working
at The British Council); social psychologist Hilda
Himmelweit and sociologist Eileen Barker (while
working at the London School of Economics)
they were my main role models and inspirations
for moving into an academic career. It was their
independence of mind and autonomy that I admired.

We make
recognition
decisions about
faces every day.

Dr JAMAL
MANSOUR
LECTURER, PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY

My research concerns how people recognise faces

and the cognitive and social factors that affect
memory for faces.
An incorrect decision can lead to a criminal
remaining free to commit further crimes or an
innocent person going to jail. Eyewitnesses play a
key role in our criminal justice system; I strive to
ensure the criminal justice system can obtain as
accurate and reliable eyewitness evidence
as possible.
A third-year undergraduate class on memory
inspired me. I felt my memory worked pretty
well but was startled to learn how often we
remember events and people incorrectly
and shocked to learn the consequences of
some memory errors. For example, eyewitness
identification errors are a primary cause of
wrongful convictions.

R A T I N G

O
U

We make recognition decisions

about faces every day and
of course we are sometimes
successful, sometimes not.
It is especially critical that
eyewitnesses to crime
make accurate recognition
decisions. The police often ask
eyewitnesses to look at a face
or faces and indicate whether
they see the perpetrator of the
crime they witnessed.

WOMEN
RESEARCHERS
INSPIRING
RESEARCH CAREER
JOURNEYS

My work has
taken place in a
variety of national
and international
contexts.

Dr CATHY
MATHESON
SENIOR LECTURER, BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND MANAGEMENT

I am Dr Cathy Matheson, Senior Lecturer in Events Management.

My work centres on three broad themes.
First, the consumption of cultural events,
specifically audience perceptions of
authenticity, consumer motivations and
spiritual attitudes, and the relationship
between consumer satisfaction and
event quality. Second, the meaning
and significance of event-led urban
regeneration. Finally, social justice and
its connection to mega-events, namely
perceptions of human trafficking for
sexual exploitation and the associated
preventative measures.

R A T I N G

WOMEN
RESEARCHERS
INSPIRING
RESEARCH CAREER
JOURNEYS

My work has taken place in a

variety of national and international
contexts and has both, a practical
application to events, as well
as implications for the ongoing
development of policy.
A number of people have inspired
me in my research career,
namely research supervisors
and colleagues, including George
Hughes, Professor Richard Prentice
and Professor Russell Rimmer. The
work of Dr Beatriz Garca has also
been a source of inspiration.

Dr CLAIRE
SEAMAN

My inspiration
has been sheer
curiosity about
the subject!

READER, BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND MANAGEMENT

Im Dr Claire Seaman and Im a Reader in Enterprise and Family

Business. Im interested in the way in which family businesses develop
parallel strategies for the business, the family and the individual family
members. This is particularly apparent in smaller businesses which are
under-represented in research but economically important.
The development of
theory within the fields of
entrepreneurship and strategy
that accommodates these
multiple rationalities of family
and business is a key part of
my current research, linking to
the management, sharing and
creation of knowledge in
a family business context.

R A T I N G

WOMEN
RESEARCHERS
INSPIRING
RESEARCH CAREER
JOURNEYS

My research also considers the manner in which families

act as a platform for entrepreneurial individuals and families
who develop lots of different businesses over the years.
My inspiration has been sheer curiosity about the subject!
My initial research was in agri-business, but farms are often
run by families. Later work involved small business, but
again one factor was the family. Families were the driving
force behind business but overlooked in research where
family were regarded as something to be professionalised
out of the business, despite family businesses forming the
economic bedrock of Scotland.

Food has always

been in the background
of my and
my familys interest.

Dr ANA TOMINC
LECTURER, BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND MANAGEMENT

Im Dr Ana Tominc, and Im a Lecturer in Gastronomy

at Queen Margaret University. In this role, I teach and
research about food, culture and communication.
Even though I decided to study social
anthropology and on a postgraduate
level, linguistics, food has always been
in the background of my and my
familys interest. I had an excellent
(female) doctoral supervisor, with
whom I had a chance to discuss my
cooking research but also, how it is
to be a woman in academia.

R A T I N G

O
U

I am specifically interested in
representation of food and cooking
in television cooking shows and
cookbooks today and in the past and
ways in which these change.
In particular, I look at the connection
between identity, taste and social
groups, such as class, which
demonstrate how one group creates
distinction as opposed to the other
through what we eat. To me, this is
fascinating, especially as it can help
understand why changing food habits
can be quite a difficult task!

WOMEN
RESEARCHERS
INSPIRING
RESEARCH CAREER
JOURNEYS

EMMA WOOD
SENIOR LECTURER, MEDIA, COMMUNICATION AND PERFORMING ARTS

The AlcoLOLs project has enabled thousands of young

people to challenge Scotlands drinking culture. It helps
them realise that they dont have to get drunk to fit in and
develops the skills necessary for making confident choices.
It matters to me because I care
deeply about the impact that
excessive drinking is having on
Scotland (costing around 3.6 bn a
year to manage).
I hate the fact that the health
service has to devote massive
resources to dealing with
drunkenness and that people end
up in prison because they behave
violently when theyre drunk. And,
on a more positive note, it matters
because I want young people to
spend their youth developing as

people, building their knowledge,

friendships and self esteem and
creating memories theyll cherish.
Seeing the difference our work can
mean for young people inspires
me its great to be part of a
process that develops (and values)
their ability to make confident,
positive choices. And teamwork is
inspiring I love working in such a
focussed way with colleagues like
Dr Magda Pieczka.

Seeing the
difference our work
can mean for young
people inspires me.

R A T I N G

WOMEN
RESEARCHERS
INSPIRING
RESEARCH CAREER
JOURNEYS