Research into 'Girls, Leadership and Women in the Public Eye'

Dr Michele Paule (Principal Investigator) and Dr Hannah Yelin (Co-Investigator) recently completed a national pilot study investigating girls' attitudes to leadership and high-profile women.

Dr Michele Paule (Principal Investigator) and Dr Hannah Yelin (Co-Investigator) recently completed a national pilot study investigating girls' attitudes to leadership and high-profile women. This research explores the issue of UK's persistent gender leadership gap at a time of increasing abuse, especially online, directed at prominent women from the perspective of girls. Girls' views and experiences are crucial as attention is increasingly turning to them as the potential leaders of the future. Read an executive summary of the project here.

The study has attracted national media attention: ITV News filmed Michele and Hannah discussing the issues with a group of girls at a participating school. The project was also the subject of a full page feature in Grazia magazine. An article written by Hannah and Michele was featured in the Independent online newspaper.

Michele was invited to meet the CEO of the Jo Cox Foundation, Catherine Anderson, to discuss the importance of the findings. Catherine features the project in her article for  Stylist magazine on visible women and Jo's feminist legacy.

The pilot study was supported by funding from the Gender and Education Association. Michele and Hannah are currently working to extend the project to focus on under-represented groups of girls in intersectional and regional context.