Psychology of Women and Equalities Section

POWES is very keen to promote attendance of students at their annual conferences.

We have set aside funds for a small number of bursaries and concessions to be awarded to cover the cost of attendance, accommodation, meals and travel.

Guidance for applications:

• Applicants presenting at the conference will be prioritised
• The initial deadline for bursary applications is 11pm on 20 June 2024. Bursary applications received by that date will be considered and applicants contacted with confirmation as to whether they have been successful and confirmation of the bursary amount by Monday 24 June. 
• If the bursaries are oversubscribed, there will be a first-come, first-served policy.
• Potential applicants are welcome to enquire after the deadline about the continuing availability of bursary funding, accepting that the overall Bursary Fund may be depleted.
• Once successful the recipient of the bursary will need to register to the event by 01 July 2024. Information about registering will be provided in the confirmation email. 

Apply for a conference bursary now
 

We welcome nominations for the award for mentors who:

• Demonstrate sustained engagement with offering feminist support, direction, guidance and supervision to undergraduate or postgraduate students or their colleagues in Psychology
• May be well known for supporting 'non-traditional' students. For example, in helping them navigate academia and supporting them in the successful completion of their studies.
• Foster a welcoming atmosphere and culture of inclusion
• Inspire students in their studies and/or professional development

The winning nominee will receive:

• A framed award certificate from POWES
• A funded place at the POWES 2024 Annual Conference (10-12 July 2023) to accept their award. (POWES will reimburse the full conference fee and travel to the conference up to the maximum amount of £140.)
• Additionally, the nomination statement will be published in the POWES journal The Psychology of Women and Equalities Section Review (POWER).

How to make a nomination

• POWES members are eligible to nominate candidates for the award, however, the nominee does not need to be a member of POWES or the BPS
• Nominators can be individuals or groups (please note: the scheme is not open to self-nominations)
• To nominate a feminist mentor, please provide a nomination statement (maximum 1000 words in doc format) outlining how and why that person is particularly impactful on your life or those of others. We suggest you include examples of specific activities, anecdotes and personal characteristics of the mentor that have been influential in the life and career of others
• Decisions will be made by a panel of POWES committee members and announced ahead of the POWES conference in July each year

Submit a nomination now

The deadline for applications is midnight 06 June 2024.

Postgraduate students who have submitted their thesis this year (2024-2025) or within the last three academic years (2021-24) are invited to submit a short article for the POWES and Feminism & Psychology Postgraduate Award.

Criteria

Submissions can include research from all areas of Psychology and the Social Sciences

The article must be clearly related to the research carried out as part of a postgraduate degree and must not have been published previously.

Articles must make an original contribution to the psychology of women, gender, feminist theory, practice and beyond. For example, articles may explore issues around gender, racism, or gender and other intersecting inequalities. 

Articles can be up to a maximum of 3,500 words. Word counts do not include abstract, title, references, data extracts or tables. Abstracts can be a maximum of 200 words.

Key information

• Submission deadline: 31 March 2025
• Winners are announced: 19 May 2025
• Winners present at POWES 2025 Conference 23– 24 June 2025, Milton Hill, Oxfordshire, OX13 6AF

International Submissions

POWES is aware of the problematic Western and English language dominance in psychology and welcomes submissions from those not based in the UK and from those who do not use English as their first language.

Whilst submissions do need to be written in English, we are happy to provide proof reading support if you are a second language English speaker before you submit your paper.

To access this, please contact [email protected] by 17 March 2025.

Review process:

Every entry will be anonymously reviewed by two members of POWES with relevant knowledge and expertise.

Submissions that receive a positive review from both reviewers will go to the judging panel, who will assess, comment on, and score the article based on the criteria for submissions (see below).

The panel of judges will make the final decision.

• Academic merit - Does the paper present a coherent argument, express ideas/points clearly and discuss original findings?
• Presentation - Is the paper clearly written, well-structured and well referenced?
• Use of theory - Is the paper thoroughly theorised? Does it make a significant contribution to theory and/or practice?
• Innovation - Does the paper make innovative use of theory and/or method?
• Relevance - Is the paper relevant to the aims of POWES?
• Impact - Is there a significant potential impact of this paper? (e.g. in relation to feminism, marginalised topics/groups? Is it: timely, political/activist/trans-disciplinary? Does it link activism to theory/academic work, etc?

The winner receives:

• A funded place at the POWES 2025 Conference (23-24 June 2025) including 2 night's on site accommodation or a £50 voucher if unable to attend in-person
• The opportunity to present your paper at the Conference 
• A one year subscription to Feminism & Psychology & PoWER
• Invitation to publish your paper in PoWER subject to addressing any feedback from prize reviewers.
• An Award certificate

How to apply

Applications must be made online.

Prepare your responses to the following questions:

1. Name
2. BPS number
3. Email address
4. University
5. Year thesis submitted
6. Upload article (see criteria above)
7. Additional comments

Submit an application

The deadline for applications is 23:30 on 31 March 2025.

POWES particularly welcomes applications from the following groups of people who are often under-represented: Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people, disabled people and people who identify as LGBTQ+

For enquiries please email [email protected].

Current undergraduate students (2024-2025) and those who have submitted their dissertation within the last three academic years (2021-2024) are invited to submit a short article for the POWES undergraduate awards.

There are two awards:

• POWES: Undergraduate Spotlight Award on Activism - we invite submissions for the Spotlight Award for work that highlights engagements in activism and/or explores any related aspects of activism.
• POWES: Undergraduate Gender Inequalities Award – we invite submissions for the Gender Inequalities Award that focus on gender OR gender AND other intersecting inequalities (e.g. Black women's perinatal experiences, queer women's coming out stories).

Criteria

• Articles can be up to a maximum of 3,000 words. Word counts do not include abstract, title, references, quotes or tables.
• Abstracts can be a minimum of 200 words
• Articles must be clearly related to the research carried out as part of an undergraduate degree and make an original contribution
• Articles must be in Word doc format
• Individual entries and group submissions are both welcomed, but must not have been published previously.
• Submissions can include research from all areas of Psychology and the Social Sciences.

Key information

• Submission deadline: 31 March 2025
• Winners are announced: 19 May 2025
• Winners present at POWES 2025 Conference 23– 24 June 2025, Milton Hill, Oxfordshire, OX13 6AF

International Submissions

POWES is aware of the problematic Western and English language dominance in psychology and welcomes submissions from those not based in the UK and from those who do not speak English as their first language.

Whilst submissions do need to be written in English, we are happy to provide proof reading support if you are a second language English speaker before you submit your paper.

To access this, please contact [email protected] by 17 March 2025.

Review process:

Every entry will be anonymously reviewed by two members of POWES with relevant knowledge and expertise.

Submissions that receive a positive review from both reviewers will go to the judging panel, who will assess, comment on, and score the article based on the criteria for submissions (see below).

The panel of judges will make the final decision. 

• Academic merit - Does the paper present a coherent argument, express ideas/points clearly and discuss original findings?
• Presentation - Is the paper clearly written, well-structured and well referenced?
• Use of theory - Is the paper thoroughly theorised? Does it make a significant contribution to theory and/or practice?
• Innovation - Does the paper make innovative use of theory and/or method?
• Relevance - Is the paper relevant to the aims of POWES?
• Impact - Is there a significant potential impact of this paper? (e.g. in relation to feminism, marginalised topics/groups? Is it: timely, political/activist/trans-disciplinary? Does it link activism to theory/academic work, etc?

The winner receives:

• A funded place at the POWES 2025 Conference (23-24 June 2025) including 2 night's on site accommodation or a £50 voucher if unable to attend
• The opportunity to present your paper at the Conference.
• An award certificate
• A one year subscription to PoWER
• Invitation for assisted publication of your submission in PoWER subject to standard peer-review process

How to apply

Applications must be made online.

Prepare your responses to the following questions:

1. Name
2. BPS number
3. Email address
4. University
5. Year dissertation submitted
6. Which undergraduate award applying for?
7. Abstract (200 words)
8. Upload article (see criteria above)
9. Additional comments

Submit an application

The deadline for applications is 23:30 on 31 March 2025.

POWES particularly welcomes applications from the following groups of people who are often under-represented: Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people, disabled people and people who identify as LGBTQ+.

For enquiries please email [email protected].

• UG Gender Inequalities Winner: Catherine Davies (Michigan State University) '"Find what makes you comfortable, find what makes you euphoric": A thematic analysis centring trans and non binary voices in understandings of gender construction'
• PG Winner: Siouxsie Bytheway (University of Gloucestershire) 'Heteronormative discourse: Therapist social constructions of intimate partner violence in queer relationships'

• UG Gender Inequalities Winner: Gillian Ang ([email protected]) 'Discursive Construction of Sexual Assault: A Qualitative Analysis of News Media Reporting of 'the Kavanaugh Case'
• UG Spotlight on Inequalities Winner: Reem Michael ([email protected]) 'I Shouldn't Have to Prove Myself': The Experiences of Black Women at Russell Group Universities
• PG Winner: (in collaboration with Feminism & Psychology): Leola Meynell ([email protected]) 'Losing our gendered griefs? Women's postfeminist narratives of higher education and intimate partner relationships'

• UG winner: Amy Middleton ([email protected]) for their submission titled: 'Feminazis': A Feminist Poststructuralist Discourse Analysis into the Mainstream Media's Representations of Feminist Activism
• PG winner: Ulandi du Plessis ([email protected] ) for their submission titled: 'Governing pregnancy in the Global South: An analysis of techniques to reduce maternal mortality in the South African public health system'.

• PG winner: Gabriela Pinheiro [email protected] "Not my boxes anyway": Textual Intersections of Gendered, Sexual and Racial Identities in Post-Apartheid South Africa"
• UG winner: Jade Farley [email protected]: "Women and anger in the late 1970's UK punk scene

2010: C. Rivas (Queen Mary, University of London)

2009: P. Pinto (University of Minho, Portugal)

2008: L. Lazard (University of Nottingham)

2007: C. Nguyen (London School of Economic and Political Science)

• Discounted registration for the Section's Annual Conference
• Opportunities to influence and take part in the development of the section
• Opportunity to voice your opinion, either at the Section's AGM and/or by becoming a member of the section's committee
• Psychology of Women and Equalities Review
• Regular updates via our membership announcement email list

The Psychology of Women and Equalities Section uses its membership announcement email list to inform its members of activities and initiatives that are relevant to their interests and to make requests for engagement on topical issues. 

By becoming a member of the Section you are automatically added to the announcement list.

To receive these emails you will need to:

1. become a member of the Psychology of Women and Equalities Section
2. opt into receiving email communication and provide a working email address

These preferences can be updated by logging into your member portal.

If you have any queries, please contact Member Network Services.

To assist us in responding to your query please make sure to include your membership number and quote 'Psychology of Women and Equalities Section announcement email' in the subject line.

The Psychology of Women and Equalities Section relies on a wide range of people getting involved, and the work of the Section is largely achieved through the dedication of unpaid volunteers.

Our volunteers come from a wide range of different backgrounds, whether they be practitioners or academics, or full members or students members, and together form an open and inclusive community.