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International Women’s Day 2025: Empowering Women through Research at the School of Education and Social Work
By: Lily Cartwright-Douglas
Last updated: Friday, 7 March 2025
For International Women's Day 2025 this Saturday, we are highlighting important research being conducted by - and for - women within the School of Education and Social Work.
With a number of world-leading researchers, the School of Education and Social Work hosts several renowned interdisciplinary research centres: The Centre for Social Work Innovation and Research, the Centre for Teaching and Learning Research, and two University of Sussex Centres of Excellence - the Centre for International Education and the Centre for Innovation and Research in Childhood and Youth.
From exploring the historical legacies of gender and racial inequality in postcolonial contexts, to supporting women teachers in rural Rwanda, our dedicated faculty continue to actively address pressing gender issues in education, social justice, and global development.
Find out more about our ongoing and internationally recognised research on our website.
Gender and Education in Postcolonial Contexts
Professor Barbara Crossouard and Professor Máiréad Dunne
Barbara and Máiréad’s research examines the ways in which gender binaries and racialised differences were legitimised during the colonial and postcolonial periods, focusing on how western colonialism subordinated women around the world by imposing gender norms that tied them to the domestic sphere.
They also consider the critical role of education in this process, securing western values and legitimizing women’s regulation and subordination. Barbara and Máiréad’s research helps our understandings of how gender relations can be changed in the contemporary world.
Learn more about colonial impacts on gender roles and relations here.
Positioning gender inequality awareness in higher education teaching internationally
Professor Tamsin Hinton-Smith's research explores perceptions around responsibility for ongoing gender inequality in higher education curricula and teaching methods, based on research across India, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Nigeria, and the UK.
Tasmin’s research additionally considers how and in what ways university staff and students view gender inequality as a cultural or external issue, positioning the University as unable to address it, or as a force of progress to resolve it.
Read the full article about perceptions on gender inequality in Higher Education.
Unaccompanied migrant girls: navigating religious girlhood in the UK
Dr Rachel Larkin's research explores the experiences of unaccompanied migrant young women from Sub-Saharan Africa in the UK and their interactions with social workers, using an intersectional approach to explore how these girls adapt their religious practices in new spaces, focusing on the role of religion in their lives.
Her work highlights how these girls are often framed as vulnerable and passive, despite their strategic navigation of life after migration.
Learn more about the experiences of unaccompanied migrant girls and young women.
Designing and piloting an equitable whole school approach to quality Teacher Professional Development: exploring conditions and support needed to succeed at scale in Rwandan Lower Secondary Schools
Professor Jo Westbrook is heading a project in Rwanda led by the British Council which supports women teachers in rural schools’ to access a large-scale teacher professional development programme to improve their English proficiency. The project aims to understand the lived realities of women working in rural schools near country borders where lack of resources, less exposure to English and disruption to connectivity are commonly experienced - as well as gendered expectations that mothers should manage childcare and domestic duties while working full-time.
These challenges are being addressed through the evaluation of supportive adaptations, such as the provision of creches for residential courses, flexible online learning, and women-only WhatsApp groups, alongside equitable access to teacher development.
‘Designing and Piloting an Equitable Whole-school Approach to Quality Teacher Professional Development: Exploring conditions and support needed to succeed at scale in Rwandan Lower Secondary Schools’ (2023-26) is part of the ‘Empowering Teachers’ Initiative’, co-led by The Foundation for Information Technology Education and Development and funded by the Canadian Government’s International Development Research Centre.
Reanimating data: Working with archives to revitalise young sexualities, past and present
Through the lens of queer theory and feminist archive activism, Professor Rachel Thomson's collaborative work explores how a 30-year-old feminist research project, the ‘Women, Risk & AIDS Project’, was preserved, archived, and shared with new generations of young women and youth workers.
Her approach examines how past social research can engage and inspire co-production of knowledge with contemporary audiences, opening up opportunities for co-creating insights on sexuality, sexual health, and social change.
Find out more about how feminist archive activism cam inspire co-production and expanded insights on sexuality and social change.