Dr Jessica Gagnon is a Research Fellow for the STEM Equals project at the University of Strathclyde, focused on women and LGBT+ folks in STEM careers in academia and industry. Previously, she served as a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Education and Sociology at the University of Portsmouth, where she lead Changing Mindsets, a multi-university, Office for Students-funded project focused on attainment gaps for Black and Minority Ethnic students and working class students in higher education. She is an educational sociologist, focused on inequalities in higher education, and she completed her PhD in February 2016 at the University of Sussex, earning an unconditional pass/no corrections. She earned an MSc in Social Research Methods from the University of Sussex and an MA in Higher Education Administration from Santa Clara University, both with distinction. She completed her BA in English and journalism with honours at Framingham State University. Jessica is a first-generation student from an American working-class, single mother family. She has worked in higher education in the US and UK for 20 years. Jessica has taught at the undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral levels. Jessica is deeply committed to equality and diversity in higher education, which is reflected in her teaching and her research.  She is unapologetically feminist in her activism and her work. She joined the GEA executive board in December 2016.

Twitter: @Jess_Gagnon