Jess researches higher education and inequalities, having been working and studying within the university sector for over twenty years. As a Doctoral Researcher, Jess is exploring ‘knowledge, care ethics, and emotions, in UK Higher Education EDI work’ as part of the‘CITHEI: Unequal Academic Citizenship’ mini-CDT. Alongside the PhD study, Jess has also conducted research as part of the Doctoral Education and Academia Research Centre (DEAR) at University of Warwick on mitigating circumstances and reasonable adjustments (aka accommodations) policies. A Senior Fellow of the HEA, Jess has worked with a large number of universities and sector bodies as a policy advisory, researcher, and educator.
Jess’s research interests lie in issues of power, equity, care, and identity, with a focus on critical diversity studies (centering a feminist, queer, and intersectional lens). She holds a degree in Law from the University of Oxford, and an interdisciplinary Masters in Gender, Sexuality, and Culture at Birkbeck, University of London.
Interests include:
- Structural inequities in HE policy, education, and experiences
- Qualitative and Critical methodologies
- Inclusive Research Cultures and Doctoral Education
- Equality data, categorisation, and storytelling
- Scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) including assessment and curriculum
- Temporalities
- Staff academic development and academic writing
- Queer histories, literature, and fandoms
Knowledge, care and emotions in UK Higher Education EDI work
PGR Supervisors: Prof Line Nyhagen, Dr Sarah Barnard and Dr Daniel Sage
Jess is currently researching ‘knowledge, care, and emotions in UK Higher Education EDI (Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) work’ through a sociological lens. The UK wide study uses qualitative methods (interviews and focus groups), and aims to investigate the individual experiences, emotions, and knowledges of a broad range of ‘diversity workers’ (Ahmed, 2012) within university structures, particularly with reference to a feminist ‘ethics of care’ (Tronto, 2013). While doing so, Jess remains mindful of the problematization of the term and identity of “EDI” in current HE practice and scholarship.
Jess’ doctoral studies are supervised by Prof Line Nyhagen, Dr Sarah Barnard, and Dr Daniel Sage, and conducted within a community of Doctoral Researchers in Loughborough’s "CITHEI" Centre for Doctoral Training for “Academic Citizenship: Opportunities and Barriers to Participation and Inclusion of Cultural Diversity and Intersecting Identities in Higher Education".
Jess is a former researcher of the Doctoral Education and Academic Research Centre (DEAR) at University Warwick, as well as an adviser and educator for an HE sector organisation. Research experiences has included exploring understandings and practices around ‘Mitigating Circumstances’ and ‘Reasonable Adjustments’ within doctoral education; EDI interventions in the international research and innovation landscape; inclusive assessment practices; and evaluation of academic development programmes.
Recent research activities
- Sector Engagement Event (presenter): Mitigation and Reasonable Adjustment in Doctoral Education, UKCGE Interactive Workshop, London, May 2024
- Presentation: Ageing the Killjoy? How age, stage, and inter/generational knowledges impact ‘EDI’ workers’ values and practices, Making Diversity Interventions Count International Academic Conference (MDICAC) University of Bradford, May 2024
- Poster: Knowledge, Care and Emotions in EDI Higher Education work [Poster] Advance HE EDI Conference, Liverpool, March 2024
- Burford, J., Henderson, E. F., Dahl, S., Bajwa-Patel, M., McKee, F., Moody, J., Branch, D., & Martyn, R. (2024). Mitigation and adjustment for doctoral education (MADE): Final Project Report [Report]. Doctoral Education and Academia Research Centre (DEAR). https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/187406/
- Burford, J., Henderson, E. F., Dahl, S., Bajwa-Patel, M., McKee, F., Moody, J., Branch, D., Martyn, R., & Mansuy, J. (2024). Developing reasonable adjustments and mitigating circumstances policies and practices for inclusive doctoral degree participation: Project briefing [Report]. Doctoral Education and Academia Research Centre (DEAR). https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/187912/
- Baughan, P., Carless, D., & Moody, J. (2020). Re-considering assessment and feedback practices in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. In P. Baughan (Ed.), On Your Marks: Learner-focused Feedback Practices and Feedback Literacy (pp. 179–191). Advance HE. https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/your-marks-learner-focused-feedback-practices-and-feedback-literacy
- Moody, J., Baughan, P., & Borkin, H. (2021). Equality, diversity and inclusion in the assessment of Law: Reflections from a collaborative project. In P. Baughan (Ed.), Assessment and Feedback in a Post-Pandemic Era: A Time for Learning and Inclusion. Advance HE. https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/assessment-and-feedback-post-pandemic-era-time-learning-and-inclusion
- Turner, I., Norton, S., & Moody, J. (2020). #52etc – a toolkit for student engagement. Advance HE. https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/52etc