Gender studies

The increased weighting of the environment section poses risks in an era when EDI is increasingly politicised, say Alice Sullivan and John Armstrong 

The unrelenting social pressure to take on all domestic duties leaves women little time for professional advancement, says Sabrin Ramadhan

Universities have a duty to protect students from the power imbalance inherent in a personal relationship with a staff member, says Cara Aitchison

Catherine Rottenberg enjoys an analysis of a new generation of characters who are transforming the narrative possibilities for women on screen

A recent survey confirms that higher education continues to offer a safe environment for a certain kind of abuser: the successful professor who brings in large grants, say Nanna Haug Hilton and Susanne Täuber

Gender critical theory and harassment move up agenda as major battles over pay and pensions loom

June Purvis enjoys a group biography that offers new insights into the role of British working-class women in the struggle for the vote 

Tributes paid to a pioneering political scientist who overcame the obstacles and stereotypes that often block women in the academy

Coyness, contention and competing agendas all hamper historians and sociologists of sex. Matthew Reisz speaks to those who choose, nevertheless, to probe this most sensitive and intimate of subjects

Emma Rees is impressed by a disturbing study of how universities largely fail to address their employees’ grievances

The David Miller and Kathleen Stock cases underline the growing threat to human rights, say Alison Assiter and Miriam David

The ‘dark academia’ fashion trend underlines the stereotype of the slim, pale, serious woman dressed in black, says Rachel Moss

Georgina Murray applauds a bold attempt to put gender at the heart of a wider political critique

A major new study reveals that, across the world, work-life balance issues hold women back, say Elaine Howard Ecklund and Di Di

Not before time, the female partners whose intellectual contributions enhanced their husbands’ work get long-overdue credit, writes Emma Rees

A resulting sense of obligation often leaves women unable to relocate for better or more secure jobs, says Lara McKenzie

Tributes paid to authority on the American Dream who ‘confounded the supposed dichotomy between the academy and activism’

Pride Month may be over but inclusion needs year-round commitment that goes beyond noisy and colourful gestures, says Karen Lambert

Rebecca Buxton is thrilled by a rich and accessible collection that challenges the age-old assumption of male-dominated philosophy

Robert Eaglestone finds much to admire in an unapologetic attempt to justify the humanities in their own terms

Doing everything by the book makes it easy for opponents to plan ahead. So shake them up a bit, says Marcia Devlin

Kalwant Bhopal is impressed by a sobering analysis of how racial attitudes shape even our most intimate interactions

Ruth Heholt discovers how supernatural fiction is deeply revealing about changing attitudes to class and gender 

A writing group has become a vital support network for female academics facing everything the pandemic can throw at them, says Sorcha MacLeod

Tributes paid to a scholar notable for ‘taking down the borders’ around the study of literature

The cuts will hit organisations helping women and girls to evade violence and access justice, say Christine Chinkin and Sanam Naraghi Anderlini

Awareness campaigns, support services and coordination with local authorities and transport providers are all needed, says Maya Tutton

Emma Rees enjoys a vivid if familiar exploration of changing attitudes to romance

The sociology professor tells Matthew Reisz about her rural childhood, satisfying a hunger for the wider world through reading, and her (scholarly) interest in unfaithful men

Universities should urge their students to behave better but also must consider how they may enable abuse, argue Columbia professors

In handling cases, UK universities must clarify the burden of evidence, better train adjudicators and publish incidence statistics, says one survivor

Catherine Rottenberg enjoys a sharp analysis of the sexual politics behind the devices that provide domestic services

Female academics, especially mothers, face the double challenge of patriarchy and neoliberal management

The professor of communication and media and author of The Politicization of Mumsnet discusses social media’s good and bad, debates over gender and feminism, and Val McDermid’s Scotland

Emma Rees praises a lively yet forensic analysis of systemic misogyny

Female representation in Asian academia’s senior ranks is low by international standards. There are some encouraging signs that the situation is being addressed, but might the disproportionate effect of the Covid-19 lockdowns on women undo the good work? Joyce Lau reports

Emma Rees applauds a detailed analysis of how women are sidelined in the art world – and how they can fight back

Matthew Reisz reflects on the researchers who have brought us powerful stories about how gender manifests – from remote Himalayan villages to the nightclubs of the French Riviera

Kristen Ghodsee is intrigued by an ethnographic account of how women found ways to reinvent themselves after the collapse of the USSR

The problem is measuring all women, with or without children, against patriarchal standards, says Srila Roy

Tanja Sihvonen enjoys a collection of interviews with the queer game makers who are transforming the whole world of video games

Many universities are setting up ‘consent courses’ to reduce sexual assault and harassment on campus. Helen Lock attends one and considers a variety of views about their value and limitations

The author of The Olympic Games: A Critical Approach discusses seeing sport through ‘a feminist, anti-racist lens’, anti-doping efforts and Outback Noir

Catherine Rottenberg discovers how progressive causes can harness the power of ‘counter-data’ to challenge the status quo

Several years ago, a few young men who identified as ‘involuntary celibate’ formed a self-help group. However, they went on to embrace vicious and sometimes murderous misogyny. Kaitlyn Regehr tells Ellie Bothwell why she felt impelled to explore their disturbing world

Heike Bauer is intrigued by a study of women who lived as men that raises important questions about gender identities today

Claire Horn applauds a study of artificial approaches to ‘family-making’ that does equal justice to both the science and social context

Lisa Hopkins considers how Tudor princesses severely limited their food intake as a way of asserting their status

The Holberg prizewinner describes how she forged a new discipline in response to the ‘theoretically thin’ and ‘historically unimaginative’ art history she was trained in

Removing biases in the system may not be enough to achieve a truly equal gender balance, says Sun Young Lee 

Book of the week: Lynne Segal applauds a bold attempt to forge a comprehensive philosophy of resistance

The cultural historian, whose latest book The Imposteress Rabbit Breeder explores the case of an 18th-century woman said to have given birth to rabbits, discusses libraries, women’s bodies and how they interact with culture to shape female lives

Lisa Hopkins enjoys an ingenious analysis of the ways that ‘discourses of mapping’ influenced attitudes to gender

Book of the week: there’s something for everyone in this provocative study of sex, power and conflict, says Joanna Lewis

Like the rest of society, universities have largely failed to consider the specific needs of menopausal women. Here, one scholar describes how this can lead to marginalisation and bullying – and why the issue is as important as the fight for maternity rights

Matthew Reisz considers the researchers who keep on top of the issues we most want to avoid

Tributes paid to a pioneering feminist scholar who ‘made conversation glitter’

Tributes paid to a pioneering feminist scholar and mentor who brought greater focus on gender to the study of politics

Book of the week: Emma Rees praises a brilliantly wide-ranging study of the menopause across the centuries

Catherine Rottenberg is inspired by a major new study of the great French feminist