Research Interests

My research focuses on gender and education, in particular: constructions and performances of 'laddish' masculinities and femininities; affect and emotion in education (especially fear); sexism and gender-related violence; intersections of gender and student identities; constructions of gender in educational contexts. I have undertaken various projects on boys' and girls' motives for 'laddish' behaviours in secondary schools, leading to several articles and a book - 'Lads' and 'Ladettes' in School: Gender and a Fear of Failure, published by Open University Press. This was awarded first prize for books published in 2006 by the Society for Educational Studies (SES). I edited a book (with Carrie Paechter and EJ Renold) entitled Girls and Education 3-16: Continuing Concerns, New Agendas, that was published in January 2010 by Open University Press.

More recently, I have completed four projects. The first explored 'laddism' among university sports science students funded by the Society for Educational Studies (with Steve Dempster, Lancaster University and Lucie Pollard, Greenwich). The second was funded by the SRHE (with Vanita Sundaram, University of York) and entitled 'Are 'lad cultures' a problem in Higher Education? Exploring the perspectives and responses of HEI Staff'. A book from this project entitled 'Lad Culture in Higher Education: Sexism, Sexual Harassment and Violence' was published by Routledge in 2020. The third explored young people’s views about gender and how gender impacts their lives (with EJ Renold, Sara Bragg and Jessica Ringrose). The fourth was funded by the Swedish Research Council entitled 'Staging the successful student in higher education' with Anne-Sofie Nystrom and Minna Salminen Karlsson (Uppsala University, Sweden). This project explored constructions of student identities and wellbeing in highly competitive degree programmes - Law, Medicine, Engineering Physics - in Sweden and England.

I have also conducted research on the PhD examination process in Britain and published (with Penny Tinkler) The Doctoral Examination Process: A Guide for Students, Examiners and Supervisors (Open University Press, 2004).

I am currently researching and publishing on fear in education, and also 'laddism' and gender-related violence in higher education.

Watch Carolyn's seminar at the University of Sussex on 27th January 2014 entitled 'They just don't seem to really care, they just think it's cool to sit there and talk': Laddism in Higher Education.

Watch Carolyn's lecture on 'Lad' cultures in Education. This is an abridged version of Carolyn's lecture on 21st January 2015 which was part of Lancaster University's 50th Anniversary Lecture series.

Listen to Carolyn being interviewed about her research on lads, ladettes and lad culture on The Sociology Show (May, 2020).

Current Teaching

I teach on the Education and Social Justice PhD and MA programmes. I supervise PhD students on a range of topics, including (but not limited to): gender-related violence; experiences of LGBTQIA+ people in education; sexism and misogyny in educational spaces; educational transitions; gender and learner identities; women and leadership; gendered experiences of schooling; affect and emotion in education; motivation; relationships and sex education.

PhD Supervision Interests

Most aspects of gender and education. For example, gender-related violence; experiences of LGBTQIA+ people in education; sexism and misogyny in educational spaces; gender and learner identities; women and leadership; gendered experiences of schooling; affect and emotion in education; motivation; relationships and sex education.