PhD Studentship: Changing the Game: A Youth-driven Co-design Approach to Exploring Gendered Environments in Girls’ Football

ESRC DTP Collaborative Studentship

University of Nottingham and The Football Association

The Midlands Graduate School is an accredited Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP). One of 15 such partnerships in the UK, the Midlands Graduate School is a collaboration between the Universities of Warwick, Birmingham, Nottingham, Aston Leicester, Loughborough, De Montfort and Nottingham Trent.

The University of Nottingham as part of Midlands Graduate School is now inviting applications for an ESRC Doctoral Studentship in association with our collaborative partner The Football Association (The FA) to commence in October 2025.

Sport environments are often gendered in ways that disadvantage girls’ participation, performance, and health (Parsons et al., 2021). The adolescent period is critical for intervention, as this is when girls drop out of sport and physical activity en masse (Women in Sport, 2023). A significant strategic priority for The Football Association (The FA) is addressing inequality in football access for girls, across school, recreational, and high-performance settings (The FA, 2020).

In partnership with The FA, this 3-year project aims to understand the realities of girl footballers’ experiences of gendered environments and deliver recommendations for change based on these experiences. Objectives include:

1. Identify gendered environmental features at play within girls’ youth football settings;
2. Understand how girl youth footballers experience and navigate the gendered environment; and
3. Provide recommendations, co-produced with girl footballers, for the development of more equitable girls’ youth football environments.

This study works with youth to identify and transform structural constraints on sport participation. Phase 1 identifies gendered environmental features that matter in girls’ football experiences, using ‘go-along’ interviews and arts-based activities. To understand the structural drivers and facilitators of change, Phase 2 encompasses field observation and stakeholder interviews. Phase 3 entails a youth co-production process to develop a resource for The FA on the gendered environments of youth football. It is anticipated the student will produce at least 3 academic publications (PhD-by-publication). The student will work alongside The FA to engage in meetings related to the project and the wider girls’ football portfolio. 

Supervisors are Dr Stephanie Coen (University of Nottingham), Dr Ali Bowes (Nottingham Trent University), and Alice Kempski (The FA). The student will benefit from being embedded in the interdisciplinary Environments Designed for Gender Equity in Sport & Physical Activity Lab (EDGE Lab)

The ideal candidate possesses:

• Qualitative methods skills (advanced training available through the DTP). Co-production and youth engagement experience an asset.
• Relevant and/or transferable subject matter academic knowledge and/or lived experience. Knowledge of women’s football an asset.

Application Process

To be considered for this PhD, please complete the Collaborative Studentship application form available online via the above ‘Apply’ button. Please upload an anonymised CV and cover letter as part of the online application process. Shortlisted applicants will also be required to provide transcripts and two references.

Application deadline: 24 February 2025

Interviews: 6 & 7 March 2025

Midlands Graduate School ESRC DTP

Our ESRC studentships cover fees at the home rate, a maintenance stipend, and extensive support for research training, as well as research activity support grants. Support is available to both home and international applicants. For further details, visit: www.mgsdtp.ac.uk/studentships/eligibility/.

Informal enquiries about the research or the School of Geography prior to application can be directed to stephanie.coen@nottingham.ac.uk

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