Exploring experiences of gender-based online abuse among female academics in Ireland

Exploring experiences of gender-based online abuse among female academics in Ireland

This two-year Research Ireland funded project explores digitally enabled forms of abuse against female academics in the context of ongoing gender inequality in the Irish Higher Education (HE) sector. A growing body of international scholarship on gender-based online abuse demonstrates that women in public facing roles are particularly vulnerable to such attacks, including female academics. This literature also captures how isolating this abuse can be and how victims often struggle to access institutional support and redress.  

Recent studies on Irish female politicians and Irish female journalists echo these findings, illustrating how gendered online abuse has become part of daily life for women in Ireland with public facing roles, including the lack of recognition and support for those on the receiving end of such abuse. As yet, no study has comprehensively explored female academics in Ireland experiences of gender-based online abuse. This is despite the increased emphasis on outreach and impact activities as a pathway to academic career advancement and the central role digital technologies like social media now play in these activities for scholars and HE institutions.  

This reality is particularly acute for female academics in Irish HE, who remain underrepresented in senior roles and overrepresented in precarious positions, for whom online engagement presents opportunities but also distinct gender-based challenges that may be intensified by, for example, job status, race, or sexual orientation. This project will address the need for greater understanding of this complex landscape, producing the first in-depth exploration of Irish women academics’ experiences of gender-based online abuse. This exploration will develop much greater insight into gender-based online abuse targeted at female academics in Irish contexts than currently exists. Through a detailed analysis of these experiences, the project will also develop evidence-based policy recommendations for how the Irish HE sector can better support women academics navigating unpredictable and unequal online environments. 

Research Team: 

Dr Mary McGill is a Research Ireland Postdoctoral Fellow at Centre for Global Women’s Studies at the School of Political Science and Sociology at the University of Galway. 

Contact: 

Email: gboastudy@universityofgalway.ie 

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