Hello! I’m Kate, the new Social Media Intern for the Gender and Education Association (GEA). As a Cardiff University PhD student concerned with the intersection of young people’s digital practices and relationship cultures, I am delighted to be contributing to GEA’s work eradicating sexism and gender inequality in and through education. Over the next few months I will be tweeting, posting, blogging and sharing content that affirms GEA’s key aims of promoting feminist scholarship and informing policy and practice relating to gender and education.
Prior to commencing my PhD, I worked in the voluntary sector on a range of projects that challenged homophobia and transphobia in schools. The organisations I worked for relied on a strategic web and social media presence to reach educators, policy makers and young people in order to enhance the visibility of their work. Here I learnt the discipline of maintaining an up-to-date social media presence along with creative strategies for engaging people, but as a PhD student I have enjoyed the freedom my PhD twitter account affords me to engage with feminist, anti-racist and trans activism online. I have valued GEA’s commitment to spotlighting intersectional feminist perspectives on gender and education from academics, activists and practitioners alike and I am eager to continue this work.
As a PhD student, twitter has also been invaluable for building academic networks, tracking Calls for Papers, keeping abreast of relevant literature and supporting academic events and conferences. Having attended a variety of GEA coordinated conferences and seminars I am familiar with the dynamism of these events and the value of actively engaging with conference hashtags and handles. Social media has enhanced my experience as a conference attendee through enabling me to connect with speakers, follow the development of research projects and continue discussions online. As GEA Social Media Intern I hope to facilitate similar connections in the build up to, during and beyond events and conferences. So if you’re attending our upcoming Gender and Education Conference 2017 let us know by tweeting #GEAconf2017!
A key aim over the next few months is ensuring we signal boost the work of PhD students and early career researchers. We are hosting a dedicated free day of workshops for Early Career Researchers ahead of #GEAconf2017, as well as inviting blog contributions for our website. You can write about a publication you’ve read or one you’ve written, a film you’ve seen or one you’ve made, an event you’ve been to or one you’re hosting. Whatever it is you are working on at the moment, if it is related to gender, education and feminism we’d love to hear from you.
Overall, I am excited to learn more about the amazing work of GEA members and look forward to meeting some of you at #GEAconf2017!
