Our women take action

Explore how some of our pioneering women are using their platforms and practice to help build a more gender equal and inclusive world.

My work looks to support childbearing for those with hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (hEDS) and Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders (HSD), and to improve the delivery of perinatal care in groups such as minoritised ethnic communities, those birthing within the transgender community and victims of domestic violence and abuse.

Midwifery is one of the last (almost) ‘mono-gendered’ professions. The work I do to increase the value placed upon the midwifery profession is inspired by the excellence in care for childbearing women midwives demonstrate every day.

Dr Sally Pezaro: working to make perinatal and maternity care better for all 

Redhead lady wearing a black jacket

In my 25-year academic journey, I have sought to develop practices that build communities of inspired, inclusive, and diverse engineers.

My recent appointment as Director of the University Alliance sees me generating strategic partnerships outside of the university that recognise the value of women having access to resources and training that support ambition, encourage responsible innovation, and work towards supportive, collaborative networks.

In 2021, I was awarded recognition from the Women in Engineering Society as one of the 50 female engineers making a significant contribution to the field.

Professor Elena Gaura: addressing discrimination and gender inequality in engineering  

Professor Elena Gaura holding an award

I was instrumental in setting up three of Coventry University’s most innovative centres: the Serious Games Institute, the Disruptive Media Learning Lab and the Centre for Postdigital Cultures.

I have been working in digital culture and on equality issues since I began my career as a graphic artist with the BBC.

Working with disruptive learning, serious games, virtual worlds, augmented reality and related digital media has helped me develop a wide range of projects for digital culture and digital accessibility. I worked on projects to prevent dating violence when I was on the United Nations Violence Against Women’s group and I have a string of projects helping students with disabilities in Africa and Latin America.

Professor Jacqueline Cawston: developing inclusive and innovative digital spaces

Brunette lady known as Jacquelline Cawston

My PhD was in Sociology with a focus on Roma women, intersectionality, dialogic feminism and communicative methodologies. I am involved in various projects that aim to make education accessible to vulnerable groups and ethnic minorities. 

I am an independent artist, filmmaker, curator and teacher who has organised various festivals and exhibitions. I started my own production company, RosaSenCis Film Production Co, which aims to create dance films and documentaries that capture stories and reflect embodied traditions that might otherwise be lost. 

In 2021 I co-created a children’s book with grassroots Roma families that explored themes of climate justice.

Dr Rosamaria Cisneros: making education accessible to vulnerable groups and ethnic minorities

Brunette lady wearing a white top

I grew up in a small village in Mauritius, but from an early age, I was always challenging stereotypes and pushing boundaries. After acing my A-levels, I came to Coventry University on a scholarship to pursue my future in Aerospace Engineering. Relentless in my determination to secure a graduate job, I captivated my placement company, Collins Aerospace, with the findings of my final year project and my strength of character through the Student Ambassador and Faculty Chair roles.

Eight years later, I was Head of Advanced Programmes at the company with a PhD in Aerospace Thermal Transfer. I am now an Assistant Professor at the university where I started as a young student. 

I am motivated to inspire my students to achieve their best and be ethical engineers. I am also dedicated to mentoring female and BME engineers to stay and flourish in this industry.

Dr Tosha Nembhard: challenging stereotypes to inspire the next generation of women engineers 

Over the last decade my research has been directed at the social and economic aspects of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa and amongst migrant groups in the UK. My more recent research focuses on the traditional harmful practice of FGM in Africa and amongst the African diaspora in the EU.

In the early 1980s I spent 14 months lodging with local families in The Gambia when I undertook the research for my PhD. In the process of researching food production and its marketing, it became clear to me that whilst African women were the main producers of foodstuffs for their families and communities and the main traders in local markets, they suffered poor health and had low levels of education.

It was the empathy I had with these hard-working women that inspired me to focus my research on the issues that directly affected women’s livelihoods and their access to human development.

Professor Hazel Barrett: using research to challenge FGM and try and change women’s lives for the better

I am in interested in methods, methodology and epistemology. This includes feminist methodologies and epistemologies, and the practical elements of ‘doing feminist research’. My work focuses on how systemic inequality manifests and is reproduced in public policy and practice (health, social care, housing and criminal justice).

I have examined issues such as teenage pregnancy and young motherhood; the incarceration of pregnant women; the criminalisation of parents for truancy; young people and sexual consent; and ‘urban gun crime’.

Central to my Black feminist approach is an attempt to make research count through centring the voices of those included in my work, employing an intersectional lens, and advocating for change.

Assistant Professor Dr Geraldine Brown: exploring research methods to bring about social change
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