Dr Jennifer Leigh

Biography

Dr Jennifer Leigh is a Reader in Creative Practices for Social Justice in the School of Sociology, Social Policy, and Social Research at the University of Kent. She is a chemist turned sociologist, with a particular interest in using embodied, reflective, and creative practices for social justice. Her current work includes addressing and highlighting experiences of marginalisation in science due to intersectional factors including disability, gender, race, and caring responsibilities. She founded and leads Kent’s Summer Vacation Research Competition for postdoctoral researchers and widening participation students, is a Co-Lead of NADSN’s STEMM Action Group, Vice Chair (Research) of the International Women in Supramolecular Chemistry Network, sits on the Wellcome Trust’s Inclusive Research Design and Practice Expert Advisory Group, and Vitae’s Policy Advisory Group and is the Athena Forum Disability Champion.

Her recent books are: Women in Supramolecular Chemistry: Collectively crafting the rhythms of our work and lives in STEM (2022, Policy Press); Embodied Inquiry: Research Methods (2021, Bloomsbury); Ableism in Academia: Theorising lived experiences of disability and chronic illness in higher education (2020, UCL Press); and Conversations on Embodiment across higher education: Teaching, practice, and research (2019, Routledge). Her next books will be Borders of qualitative research: Navigating the spaces where therapy, education, art, and science connect (2023, Policy Press) and How to thrive in laboratory life: A toolkit from WISC (2024, Routledge).