Biography
I studied at St Hilda's College for a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics and at the University of Bristol for an MSc in Social Science Research Methods (Politics and International Relations), before completing my PhD in Politics at the University of Manchester. My PhD thesis, completed in 2022, won the PSA McDougall Prize for Best Thesis in the field of Elections, Electoral Systems, and Representation. Prior to joining St Hilda's College as Career Development Fellow in Comparative Politics in 2023, I held posts at University College London as an Associate Lecturer in Research Methods and Politics and at the University of Manchester as a Lecturer in Politics. I have published in journals including West European Politics, Electoral Studies, Political Studies, and the British Journal of Politics and International Relations. I am a co-founder of GenElect, a network for the study of Gender and Elections in Europe.
My research examines gender and political behaviour: how men and women engage differently in politics, and how social context, institutions, and methodology shape these patterns. Working primarily with quantitative methods, my research sits at the intersection of comparative politics, elections and public opinion, and gender studies.
My current research agenda follows three main strands:
Social context and political behaviour. I study how household and partner relationships shape gendered political attitudes and vote choice, using panel data from the UK and Germany. I argue that partners become more politically aligned over time as they cohabit, helping explain why men and women are often more similar politically than persistent social and economic inequalities would predict.
Institutions and gendered vote choice. I investigate how party systems and electoral competition interact with gender to shape voting behaviour, from the role of gender in educational and occupational cleavages driving party system change, to how local political competition shapes gendered voting patterns, to comparative work unpacking why younger women across different countries increasingly support left-wing parties.
Methodological innovation. I use machine learning, text analysis, and survey experiments to uncover gendered patterns that conventional methods can miss — including why gender gaps emerge in "don't know" survey responses, and how men and women differ in the issues they raise and how they frame them in open-ended survey questions.
I am happy to receive media/public engagement requests on UK and European Elections, particularly (but not exclusively) to discuss gender, public opinion, and vote choice in the UK, US, and Europe.
I currently teach the Practice of Politics paper for Prelims and the Political Sociology and Comparative Government papers for Finals, as well as lecturing on British Politics and Government since 1900. I have previously taught and/or convened modules on Gender and Politics, Research Design, and Quantitative/Mixed methods, and supervised multiple undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations/theses.
Positions
- Career Development Fellow in Comparative Politics
Subjects
- Politics
