Staff Profile

Barbara's main research interests are gender and educational cultures (in both compulsory and post-compulsory settings); gender and student experience in school and HE; academic culture and work, particularly inequalities of experience and the issue of casualisation;  and children's and adults' peer group/friendship cultures at school and university. She is also currently working on issues of gender and academic knowledge - particularly in relation to gender and STEM subjects at HE and leading to HE entry - in international contexts. She is especially interested in the areas of:

• gender and educational cultures
• the construction and 'performance' of gendered identities (in particular students, young people, teachers and academics)
• identities and intersectionality
• gender, friendship and 'popularity'
• gender, class and 'race' in relation to academic achievement
• widening participation, inequalities and academic cultures
• students’ experiences and perceptions of HE
• the ‘social world’ of the university
• social inequalities and social justice
• gender, language and communication
• classroom observation, visual and textual analysis

She is currently PI for an ESRC-funded GCRF project entitled Gendered Journeys: The Trajectories of STEM students through Higher Education and Into Employment, in India and Rwanda. This project is funded until 2023. 

She is also Ethics Officer for the School of Education.

Selected Publications: 

 

Zhai, K. , Moskal, M. and Read, B. (2021) Compelled to compete: Chinese graduates on employment and social mobility after international and domestic study. International Journal of Educational Development, 84, 102432.(doi: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2021.102432)

Leathwood, C. and Read, B. (2020) Short-term, short-changed? A temporal perspective on the implications of academic casualisation for teaching in higher education. Teaching in Higher Education, (doi: 10.1080/13562517.2020.1742681)(Early Online Publication)

Read, B. , Burke, P. J. and Grozier, G.(2020) ‘It is like school sometimes’: friendship and sociality on university campuses and patterns of social inequality. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 41(1), pp. 70-82. (doi: 10.1080/01596306.2018.1457626)

Read, B. and Leathwood, C. (2020) Casualised academic staff and the lecturer-student relationship: shame, (im)permanence and (il)legitimacy.British Journal of Sociology of Education, 41(4), pp. 539-554. (doi: 10.1080/01425692.2020.1748570)

Read, B. , Burke, P. J. and Grozier, G. (2018) ‘It is like school sometimes’: friendship and sociality on university campuses and patterns of social inequality.Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, (doi:10.1080/01596306.2018.1457626)(Early Online Publication)

Read, B. (2018) Truth, masculinity and the anti-elitist backlash against the university in the age of Trump.Teaching in Higher Education, 23(5), pp. 593-605.(doi:10.1080/13562517.2018.1457636)

Read, B. and Leathwood, C. (2018) Tomorrow’s a mystery: constructions of the future and ‘un/becoming’ amongst ‘early’ and ‘late’ career academics. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 27(4), pp. 333-351.(doi:10.1080/09620214.2018.1453307)

Read, B. and Kehm, B. M. (2016) Women as leaders of higher education institutions: a British-German comparison. Studies in Higher Education, 41(5), pp. 815-827. (doi:10.1080/03075079.2016.1147727)

Francis, B., Burke, P. and Read, B. (2014) The submergence and re-emergence of gender in undergraduate accounts of university experience.Gender and Education, 26(1), pp. 1-17.(doi:10.1080/09540253.2013.860433)

Leathwood, C. and Read, B. (2013) Research policy and academic performativity: compliance, contestation and complicity. Studies in Higher Education, 38(8), pp. 1162-1174.(doi:10.1080/03075079.2013.833025)

Francis, B., Skelton, C. and Read, B. (2012) The Identities and Practices of High Achieving Pupils: Negotiating Achievement and Peer Cultures.Continuum: London, UK. ISBN 9781441199232

Read, B. (2011) Britney, Beyonce, and me - primary school girls' role models and constructions of the 'popular' girl. Gender and Education, 23 (1). pp. 1-13. ISSN 0954-0253 (doi:10.1080/09540251003674089)

Read, B., Francis, B., and Skelton, C. (2011) Gender, popularity and notions of in/authenticity amongst 12‐year‐old to 13‐year‐old school girls. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 32 (2). pp. 169-183. ISSN 0142-5692 (doi:10.1080/01425692.2011.547304)

Francis, B., Skelton, C., and Read, B. (2010) The simultaneous production of educational achievement and popularity: how do some pupils accomplish it? British Educational Research Journal, 36 (2). pp. 317-340. ISSN 0141-1926 (doi:10.1080/01411920902919265)

Skelton, C., Francis, B., and Read, B. (2010) "Brains before 'beauty'?" High achieving girls, school and gender identities. Educational Studies, 36 (2). pp. 185-194. ISSN 0305-5698 (doi:10.1080/03055690903162366)

Skelton, C., Carrington, B., Francis, B., Hutchings, M., Read, B., and Hall, I. (2009) Gender 'matters' in the primary classroom: pupils' and teachers' perspectives. British Educational Research Journal, 35 (2). pp. 187-204. ISSN 0141-1926 (doi:10.1080/01411920802041905)

Francis, B, Skelton, C, Carrington, B, Hutchings, M, Read, Barbara, and Hall, I (2008) A Perfect Match? Pupils' and teachers' views of the impact of matching educators and learners by gender. Research Papers in Education, 23 (1). p. 15. ISSN 1470-1146 (electronic) 0267-1522 (paper) (doi:10.1080/02671520701692510 )

Hutchings, M., Carrington, B., Francis, B., Skelton, C., Read, B., and Hall, I. (2008) Nice and kind, smart and funny: what children like and want to emulate in their teachers. Oxford Review of Education, 34 (2). pp. 135-157. ISSN 0305-4985 (doi:10.1080/03054980701663959)

Read, B. (2008) 'The world must stop when I'm talking': gender and power relations in primary teachers' classroom talk. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 29 (6). pp. 609-621. ISSN 0142-5692 (doi:10.1080/01425690802423288)

Carrington, B., Francis, B., Hutchings, M., Skelton, C., Read, B., and Hall, I. (2007) Does the gender of the teacher really matter? Seven- to eight-year-olds’ accounts of their interactions with their teachers. Educational Studies, 33 (4). pp. 397-413. ISSN 0305-5698 (doi:10.1080/03055690701423580)

Hutchings, M., Carrington, B., Francis, B., Read, B., Skelton, C., and Hall, I. (2007) 'Nice and kind, smart and funny': what children like and want to emulate in their teachers. Oxford review of Education, 34 (2). pp. 135-157. ISSN 1465-3915 (electronic) 0305-4985 (paper) (doi:10.1080/03054980701663959 )

Skelton, C., and Read, B. (2006) Male and female teachers’ evaluative responses to gender and the implications of these for the learning environments of primary age pupils. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 16 (2). pp. 105-120. ISSN 0962-0214 (doi:10.1080/09620210600849802)

Read, B., and Francis, B. (2005) Examining assessment in higher education: assessment as a socially situated practice. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 30 (3). pp. 209-213. ISSN 0260-2938 (doi:10.1080/02602930500063777)

Read, B., Francis, B., and Robson, J. (2005) Gender, ‘bias’, assessment and feedback: analyzing the written assessment of undergraduate history essays. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 30 (3). pp. 241-260. ISSN 0260-2938 (doi:10.1080/02602930500063827)

Ross, A., Read, B., Kuscer, M.P., Fulop, M., Pucko, C., Berkics, M., Sandor, M., and Hutchings, M. (2005) Teachers’ constructions of citizenship and enterprise: Using associative group analysis with teachers in Hungary, Slovenia and England. New Educational Review, 7 (3-4). pp. 111-139. ISSN 1732-6729

Read, B., Robson, J., and Francis, B. (2004) Re-viewing undergraduate writing: tutors' perceptions of essay qualities according to gender. Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 9 (2). pp. 217-238. ISSN 1359-6748 (doi:10.1080/13596740400200176)

Robson, J., Francis, B., and Read, B. (2004) Gender, student confidence and communicative styles at university: the views of lecturers in history and psychology. Studies in Higher Education, 29 (1). pp. 7-23. ISSN 0307-5079 (doi:10.1080/1234567032000164840)

Francis, B., Read, B., Melling, L., and Robson, J. (2003) University lecturers' perceptions of gender and undergraduate writing. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 24 (3). pp. 357-373. ISSN 0142-5692

Read, B., Archer, L., and Leathwood, C. (2003) Challenging cultures? Student conceptions of 'belonging' and 'isolation' at a post-1992 university. Studies in Higher Education, 28 (3). pp. 261-277. ISSN 0307-5079 (doi:10.1080/03075070309290)

Robson, J., Francis, B., and Read, B. (2002) Writes of passage: Stylistic features of male and female undergraduate history essays. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 26 (4). pp. 351-362. ISSN 0309-877X (doi:10.1080/0309877022000021757)

Francis, B., Robson, J., and Read, B. (2001) An analysis of undergraduate writing styles in the context of gender and achievement. Studies in Higher Education, 26 (3). pp. 313-326. ISSN 0307-5079 (doi:10.1080/03075070120076282)

Read, B., Francis, B., and Robson, J. (2001) 'Playing safe': Undergraduate essay writing and the presentation of the student 'voice'. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 22 (3). pp. 387-399. ISSN 0142-5692

Read, B. (1996) Historical representations and the gendered battleground of the 'past': A study of the Canterbury Heritage Museum. European Journal of Women's Studies, 3 (2). pp. 115-130. ISSN 1350-5068 (doi:10.1177/135050689600300203)

Book

Francis, B., Skelton, C., and Read, B. (2012) The Identities and Practices of High Achieving Pupils: Negotiating Achievement and Peer Cultures. Continuum, London, UK. ISBN 9781441199232

Leathwood, C., and Read, B. (2009) Gender and the Changing Face of Higher Education: A Feminised Future? SRHE / Open University Press, London, UK. ISBN 9780335227136

Book Section

Read, B. (2006) Gendered constructions of cooperation and competition by pupils. In: Pergar-Kuscer, M.P., Ross, A. and Fulop, M. (eds.) Teachers' and Pupils' Constructions of Competition and Cooperation: A Three-Country Study of Slovenia, Hungary and England. University of Ljubljana Press, Ljubljana, Slovenia. ISBN 9788677351113

Read, B., Archer, L., and Leathwood, C. (2004) Experiences of community, 'belonging' and exclusion amongst non-traditional higher education students in the UK. In: Ross, A. (ed.) The Experience of Citizenship: Proceedings of the Sixth Conference of the Children's Identity and Citizenship in Europe Thematic Network. CiCe, London, UK. ISBN 9781853773785

Francis, B., Robson, J., and Read, B. (2002) Gendered patterns in writing and degree award. In: Howie, G. and Tauchert, A. (eds.) Gender, Teaching, and Research in Higher Education: Challenges for the 21st Century. Ashgate, Aldershot, Hampshire, UK. ISBN 9780754614784

Read, B., Francis, B., and Robson, J. (2002) 'Who am I to question all these established writers?' Gender and confidence in student essay writing. In: Graal, M. (ed.) Writing Development in Higher Education: Changing Contexts for Teaching and Learning: Proceedings of the 8th Annual Writing Development in Higher Education Conference, University of Leicester, April 2001. Teaching and Learning Unit, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK. ISBN 9780953835119

Research Report or Paper

Maylor, U., Read, B., Mendick, H., Ross, A., and Rollock, N. (2006) Diversity and Citizenship in the Curriculum: Research Review. Other. Department for Education and Skills, Nottingham, UK.

Archer, L., Maylor, U., Osgood, J., and Read, B. (2004) An Exploration of the Attitudinal, Social and Cultural Factors Impacting on Year 10 Student Performance: Final Report. Other. Institute for Policy Studies in Education, London Metropolitan University, London, UK.

Francis, B., Hutchings, M., and Read, B. (2004) Science in girls' schools: Factors that contribute to girls' engagement and attainment. Other. Institute for Policy Studies in Education, London Metropolitan University, London, UK.

This list was generated on Tue Mar 19 13:53:45 2013 GMT.