Continuity or change in gendered practices in higher education

An academic insider, Pat O’Connor will talk about her experi­ences over a 46-year career in five academic orga­nisations in Ireland and the UK: moving from con­tract research assistant to full professor and Dean. 

Reading extracts from her memoir: ‘A ‘proper’ woman?’ she will describe the subtle and relentless processes of devaluation, margina­lisation and disempowerment that are often ‘nor­malised’ in academia.

Pat O’Connor is an emeritus Professor of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Limerick, and Visiting Professor, Geary Institute, University College Dublin (having previously held visiting professorships at London, Linkoping, Deakin and Melbourne). 

She was the first woman full Professor of Sociology in Ireland; and the first woman to be a full Professor in any discipline and faculty Dean in the University of Limerick. A feminist and a sociologist, she was a member of the HEA National Review on Gender Equality in Irish Higher Educational Institutions (2016). 

In addition to this memoir, she has published 120 academic publications including eight books, 80 refereed journal articles and more than 30 book chapters.