This project is now complete. You can view the outcome here
Call for Participation – The Domestic Academics: Finding the time to write and care. Storying the gendered inequalities of academic research in the global pandemic
You are invited to submit expressions of interest for participation in a practice-based collaborative research project exploring the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown and subsequent home working, on academics who identify as women with caring responsibilities.
This project will use arts practice to create a digital story quilt, which seeks to present evidence that women academics with caring responsibilities are having their social capital reduced, and could see their careers damaged, due to gendered inequalities in the workplace caused by Covid-19. Each quilt square will show and tell the experiences of twelve women dealing with the challenge of completing and submitting research during the pandemic. The key practice outputs will be the quilt, displayed as an interactive website page with 3-minute voiceovers from the academics, accessed by clicking on respective quilt pieces.
Criteria for Participation
Because this research has a gendered and domestic focus, within a limited time-frame, participants are invited who meet the following criteria:
- You should be an academic who identifies as a woman with caring responsibilities, which can span a variety of children’s ages (0-18 years), elderly parents and/or other demands.
- You should be, or have been employed, by a UK-based University with research as part of your contract, during the period from March 2020 to date.
- Availability to participate in two online workshops May – July 2021. Dates to be supplied with a minimum of two-weeks-notice upon invitation to participate.
- Ability create a piece of artwork that represents your experience of balancing academic and caring responsibilities, which should be created by yourself. You do not need to define yourself as a practicing artist, but you should be confident with expressing yourself visually.
- Ability to record a short voice-over discussing your experiences, up to 3 minutes in duration.
- It is expected that you have access to a private computer with a web camera and microphone, and a reliable internet connection, for participation in the online workshops. You should also have access to basic voice-recording equipment, for example via your laptop or smart phone.
If you would like to take part please complete the following questionnaire https://brighton.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/the-domestic-academics by 27th April 2021. Activities will commence from May 2021 onwards. The deadline for project completion is September 2021.
The aims of this research are to entice social change through the voicing of these experiences, to explore the nature of participation through a practice-based output, and to create an accessible output that can be engaged within and without academic contexts. The first step in making change is to acknowledge the problem. This artwork will present the issues faced by women in this situation through an autoethnographic methodology that entices change and employs craftivist tactics to inform and persuade.
The project will also ensure these practice outputs create impact by disseminating the research through a series of events and the publication of a textual output.
Enquiries should be directed to the Principal Investigator Vanessa Marr v.marr@brighton.ac.uk