Lady Elizabeth Cruickshank Memorial Studentship on Women in the UK Legal Profession

About the award

For 2024-25, the Department of Law at Queen Mary University of London, is offering a 3-year funded studentship to support research in the field of women in the UK legal profession, commencing in September 2024.

Topic of Research

The successful candidate is expected to complete a doctoral research project within this field.

The first women to qualify as barristers and solicitors were pioneers, who achieved their professional status in the face of opposition, obstruction, and outright hostility. For the most part, these early women lawyers’ true achievements have not been previously documented and therefore their lives have been lost to history. They are an essential part of the struggle for women’s legal equality, a struggle that is still ongoing.

It is envisaged that the successful candidate will complete a doctoral thesis which will take the admission of Carrie Morrison in 1922, the first woman to become a solicitor of England and Wales, alongside the experience of other early woman lawyers, to explore the gendered and unequal nature of the legal profession in the present day.

The methods employed for the thesis may include a combination of archival and empirical research and qualitative interviews with surviving early women solicitors and barristers and/or their family members as well as current women lawyers. Applicants may take a theoretical, historical or other perspective as they wish.

The thesis will be supervised by Dr. Caroline Morris of the Department of Law.

Studentship

• One funded place is available
• The Studentship will cover the full cost of Home fees for a PhD of £4,786 pa for all three years and an annual stipend (which will be £20,214 for the first year, with the amount for later years confirmed at a later date)
• If the recipient has International fee status, the Studentship will cover tuition fees (currently £23,050 pa) for all 3 years plus a stipend (which will be £1,950 in the first, with the amount for later years confirmed at a later date).
• The recipient of the award is expected to start their studies in September 2024
• The award is available on the basis of full time study only

Eligibility criteria

• Only applicants who submit a PhD application including all required supporting documentation, including a 2000 word research proposal that addresses the proposed topic as outlined above, will be considered.
• Applicant must meet the academic and English language entry requirements for the PHD programme of the School of Law. Information on these requirements can be found at www.qmul.ac.uk/law/postgraduate/programmes/law-phd

Application deadline

The deadline for applications is Wednesday 31^st July 2024. To be considered for the award, you must have submitted your main PhD application, with supporting documentation, by this date. You should name Dr Morris as your proposed supervisor in the appropriate section of the application form.

To indicate you would wish to be considered for this award, please contact Dr. Caroline Morris in advance of the application deadline with confirmation. You should submit a copy of your research proposal and a CV to Dr. Morris.

Find out more

For further inquiries contact Dr. Caroline Morris c.morris@qmul.ac.uk

For information on the PhD Application process, please contact Mr Gareth Skehan g.skehan@qmul.ac.uk

Advert information