
News
International Women’s Day

On #InternationalWomensDay, BERA is celebrating the incredible achievements and contributions of women in educational research.
Read below for a selection of exciting BERA events, blogs and activities that spotlight women in the field of education, including:
- We were joined by Professor Lani Florian, Bell Chair of Education Emerita at the University of Edinburgh for our ‘In Conversation with…’ lecture at our 2024 AGM and Awards Ceremony.
- An article from Sara Delamont, BERA’s first woman president ever, celebrating BERA’s 50th anniversary in Research Intelligence (free access)
- 2023 BERA award winners featuring Professor Anna Vignoles, the 2023 John Nisbet Fellow, Dr Victoria Showunmi, the inaugural recipient of BERA’s Academic Citizen of the Year Award 2023, and Professor Vini Lander, the inaugural recipient of the 2023 BERA Equality in Education Award
- BERA Podcast episode in conversation with Heidi Safia Mirza, author of Young, female and Black (1992)
- Various BERA blog posts on the experience of young women in schools, the workforce and the educational research field, as well as a blog post highlighting women’s involvement in curriculum theory.
We would like to give a big thank you to all women who give their time to BERA including our trustees, committee members, SIG convenors and office staff.

Leading Women in Higher Education
In this Leading Women seminar, we investigated the intersections of gender, race, and geolocation in shaping women's experiences of leadership in Higher Education. We aimed to identify...


2023 BERA Award Winners
Congratulations to the winners of the 2023 BERA Awards

Introducing Intersectionality: In conversation with Heidi Safia Mirza
In this episode John Parkin, Mabel Encinas and Saima Salehjee chat to Heidi Safia Mirza, IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education & Society. Heidi Mirza achieved prominence with the publication of...

Women curriculum theorists
Feminism is a concept and a practice. As a concept feminism is polysemic, semantically contested, networked, interactive, powerful and dynamic. An important binary that has had real effects in the...
Young women have more career choices but why more anxiety?
Despite efforts to improve careers education, it is still seen to be largely ineffective. In addition, young people’s career aspirations have changed little in recent decades. OECD data from...
Crafting inclusive research approaches
Take three postgraduate researchers with a shared interest in developing inclusive approaches to disability and education, a carrier bag of magazines donated by the Women’s Institute, scissors...
Being a young and highly educated woman: My positionality in doing qualitative educational research in China
This blog post provides two examples of how my researcher positionality intersects with those of participants, and challenges traditional stereotyped expectations of power relations in Chinese...
Exposing the fate of Black Caribbean girls in secondary schools in England
Why are Black Caribbean girls underachieving? When I was mentoring in secondary schools there were plentiful government initiatives focused on raising attainment for Black Caribbean boys in light...
BERA's Female Staff
Conference and Events Manager at British Educational Research Association
Marie manages the Annual Conference, as well as other BERA events run throughout the year include the SIG events. Working as a Project Manager at the PCO in her previous role, Marie managed a full portfolio of international congresses,...
Membership and Engagement Manager at British Educational Research Association
Sarah Fleming joined BERA in 2014. Her main responsibilities are managing BERA's member services, writing BERA communications and promoting BERA’s work in the wider education community. She works closely with the BERA Events Manager on the BERA...
Publications Manager at British Educational Research Association
Hannah joined BERA in May 2022 as Publications Manager. In this role, she is responsible for BERA's publications portfolio, including the association's four journals, Research Intelligence, the BERA Blog, reports, books and other outputs. She has...
BERA Administrator at British Educational Research Association
Heidi joined the BERA team in May 2023, providing administrative support to the association. Heidi's previous career in teaching spanned more than twenty years. She taught throughout the primary age range and beyond. She held positions in the...

Publications and Digital Content Officer at British Educational Research Association
Paru joined BERA in March 2023 as Publications and Digital Content Officer. Her main responsibilities are supporting BERA’s publications portfolio including the association's four journals, Research Intelligence, the BERA Blog, reports, books...
BERA's Female Trustees

Professor Emerita at University of Exeter
Vivienne Baumfield is Professor of Professional Learning in the Graduate School of Education and co-leader of the Centre for Research in Professional Learning. She is interested in the interaction of research, policy and practice when...

Professor at Leeds Beckett University
Mhairi C Beaton is Professor at the Carnegie School of Education, Leeds Beckett University. After completing a Bachelor of Education at University of Edinburgh, Mhairi worked as a primary school teacher in Highland Region in the north of...

Associate Professor at University of Cambridge
Ros McLellan taught psychology and mathematics in the secondary schooling sector for a number of years before joining the Faculty. Her background is in psychology and she is a graduate member of the British Psychology Society. She has always been...

Professor of Education at University of Wolverhampton
Diana Burton is an established academic with extensive University leadership experience. She held senior leadership posts in 3 institutions, including HOD at MMU, Dean of Education at LJMU and later Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research & External...

Associate Dean Education at University of the Highlands and Islands
Professor Morag Redford is Head of Teacher Education in the University of the Highlands, a federated institution situated in nine colleges across the north and west of Scotland. Her research focuses on teacher education and the interface between...

Professor of Education & Dean at Plymouth Marjon University
Professor Tanya Ovenden-Hope is Provost and Professor of Education at Plymouth Marjon University. In 2018 she developed and opened Marjon University Cornwall based in Truro, which she leads. Tanya is a committed and enthusiastic educationalist...

Co-headteacher at Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
Sarah Seleznyov has worked in London schools for over 25 years and is now leading a brand new primary school in Newham. She has led a Teaching School, been a Deputy Head, a School Improvement Consultant and School Improvement Partner. She also...

Senior Lecturer at The Open University
Dr Alison Fox is a Senior Lecturer in Education at the Open University in the School of Education, Childhood, Youth and Sport, an Associate Head of School (Research and Knowledge Exchange), chair of the University’s Human Research Ethics...

Professor at Cardiff University
Sally Power is a professor in the School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, and director of WISERD (Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data). She undertakes research on education policy and the relationship between education...
Professor in TESOL and Education at Ulster University
Barbara Skinner is a Professor in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)and Education in the School of Education at Ulster University. Barbara lectures on a range of teacher education courses. She is involved with doctoral...

Senior Lecturer in Education at London Metropolitan University
Mabel has a strong commitment and passion for equality, diversity, and social inclusion. She is a Senior Lecturer in Education at London Metropolitan University. Her research focuses on creative strategies for learning and teaching, including...