Women in Legal Academia:Empowering Underrepresented Voices in UK Law School

Bringing together scholars, practitioners, and PhD candidates from across the UK and beyond, the event offers a rich programme of paper presentations, thematic roundtables, and networking opportunities. Attendees will hear from leading voices including opening keynote speaker Professor Olympia Bekou, Head of the School of Law at the University of Nottingham; closing remarks from Professor Charlotte Villiers of the University of Bristol Law School.

The conference covers a wide range of urgent and timely themes, from feminist pedagogy and inclusive legal education to gender, intersectionality, and structural inequality in academia. Sessions will explore care responsibilities and invisible labour, women in professional legal careers, global justice, and the future of legal institutions and culture.

Whether you are an early career researcher navigating the academic job market or an established scholar committed to meaningful change, this is a space designed for reflection, connection, and solidarity.

Registration is now open via the link below: https://forms.office.com/e/eDT2wnhW72

Please find the Teams meeting link: Women in Legal Academia: Empowering Underrepresented Voices in UK Law Schools | Meeting-Join | Microsoft Teams

Funded by The Society of Legal Scholars

Organiser: Dr Panpan Sun, School of Law, University of Nottingham

Day 1, 9 July, 2026, Park Campus, UP-MONICAPART-C14

10:00–10:30 Registration & Coffee

10:30–11:10 Opening Keynote

Keynote Speaker: Professor Olympia Bekou, Head of the School of Law, University of Nottingham

11:20–12:50 Feminist Pedagogy and Inclusive Learning Spaces

Chair: Dr Grace Carter, Assistant Professor, School of Law, University of Nottingham & Dr Sumaiyah Kholwadia, Assistant Professor, School of Law, University of Nottingha

1. Dr Ummul Fayiza, Early Career Fellow, Institute of Advanced Study, University of Warwick (In-person)

2. Favour Borokin, PhD Candidate, School of Law, University of Nottingham, AI as Tracer Dye - Exploring AI Use and Detection Concerns and Solutions among female African Law Doctoral Candidates in the UK (In-person)

3. Dr Norah Burns (Senior Lecturer, School of Law, Queen's University Belfast) & Dr Aislinn Fanning & Seanín Little, Advancing Inclusive Legal Education for Women: Feminist Pedagogy and Staff–Student Partnership in the Student Skills Assistant (Online)

4. Grace Thomson Director of AI Policy Clinics, Center for AI and Digital Policy Women in AI Policy and the transformative role of Clinical Education (Online)

12:50–13:30 Lunch

13:30–15:00 Gender, Culture and Legal Pluralism

Chair: Dr Claudia Paduano, Lecturer in Commercial Law, School of Law, University of Glasgow

1. Jiachuan Hou, PhD Candidate, School of Law, University of Nottingham, The Relationship Between Board Gender Diversity and Company Performance of Listed Companies in China (In-person)

2. Opeoluwa Olowe, PhD Candidate, Leeds Beckett University, Beyond Representation: Functional Inequality and the Limits of Gender Diversity in Corporate Boardrooms (In-person)

3. Martha Sooai, PhD Candidate, School of Law, University of Warwick Who Speaks for Women? Legal Pluralism and Bride Kidnapping in Sumba, Indonesia (In-person)

4. Dr Chao Xie (Lecturer, School of Law, Jiujiang University) & Dr Geleite Xu (Lecturer, Derby Law School) Family Revolution: The Transformation of Gender Order and Marital Relationships Through the 1950 Marriage Law in China (In-person)

15:00–15:20 Coffee Break

15:20–16:50 Care, Life Transitions and Invisible Labour

Chair: Stephanie Wright, Solicitor, Assistant Professor, School of Law, University of Nottingham

1. Dr Megan Pearson, Associate Professor, University of Southampton, School of Law, Legal protections for pregnancy and maternity in academia: a frictional combination? (In-person)

2. Professor Eugenia Caracciolo di Torella & Dr Pascale Lorber, Associate Professor, Leicester Law School, Menopause, Higher Education and the Law (In-person)

3. Dr Aislinn Fanning, School of Law and Criminology, Maynooth University & Dr Ciara Hackett, Senior Lecturer, School of Law, Queen’s University Belfast, A figure in need of fixing’: The Impacts of Perimenopause/Menopause on Academic and Professional Services Staff Careers in Higher Education (Online)

4. Dr Ronagh McQuigg, Reader, School of Law, Queen's University Belfast, Reforming the International Legal Framework on Violence Against Women (Online)

16:50–17:00 Coffee Break

17:00–18:00 Thematic I - From PhD to Early Career: Navigating Academic Transitions

Invited Speakers:

Dr Ellie Colegate (Discussion Chair) Assistant Professor, School of Law, University of Nottingham

Dr Zi Yang, Lecturer of Law, School of Law, Queen's University Belfast

Dr Yefan Xu, Teaching Associate, School of Law, University of Bristol

Dr Claudia Paduano, Lecturer in Commercial Law, School of Law, University of Glasgow

Kirstin Barnard, Senior Careers Adviser, University of Nottingham

Day 2, 10 July, 2026, Park Campus, UP-MONICAPART-C14

09:30–11:00 Women and Professional Careers

Chair: Natalie Haydon-Yeung, Assistant Professor, School of Law, University of Nottingham

1. Dr Adaeze Agatha Aniodoh, Lecturer, Leicester Law School, Visible but Not Equal: Race, Gender and Structural Inequality in UK Legal Academia (In-person)

2. Dr Priscilla A. Duodu Vitoh, Lecturer in Law, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Loughborough University, Thrice as Good, Half as Seen: Race, Gender and the Burden of Overperformance in Legal Academia (In-person)

3. Dr Victoria Barnes, Associate Dean of Education, School of Law, Queen's University Belfast & Dr Nora Honkala, Lecturer in Law, School of Law, University of Reading, Women and Law Journals (Online)

4. Dr Temi Odusanya, Assistant Professor, Robert Gordon University, Silenced Ambition: Gender, Gatekeeping, and Power in UK Legal Academia (Online)

11:00–11:15 Coffee Break

11:15–12:45 Thematic II - Gender, Identity and Structural Inequality in Legal Academia

Invited Speakers:

Dr Longjie Lu (Discussion Chair), Lecturer in Banking, Corporate and Financial Law, School of Law, University of Edinburgh

Dr Qianlan Wu, Associate Professor, School of Law, University of Nottingham

Dr Chloe Holloway-George, Assistant Professor in Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, School of Law, University of Nottingham

Dr Priscilla A. Duodu Vitoh, Lecturer in Law, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Loughborough University

12:45–13:20 Lunch

13:20–14:35 Law, Power and Global Justice

Chair: Dr Longjie Lu, Lecturer in Banking, Corporate and Financial Law, School of Law, University of Edinburgh

1. Rebecca Hall, PhD Candidate and Teaching Associate, School of Law, University of Nottingham, The Requirement of Human Agency Under International Humanitarian Law (In-person)

2. Dr Metka Potocnik, Senior Lecturer, School of Law, University of Wolverhampton A Feminist Reconstruction in Law? You are Revolutionary, Right? (In-person)

3. Professor Aoife Nolan, School of Law, University of Nottingham (Online)

14:35–14:50 Coffee Break

14:50–16:00 Thematic III - Rethinking Legal Academia: Institutions, Culture and the Future
Invited Speakers:

Sheenagh Bloomfield (Discussion Chair) Senior Operations Manager, School of Law, University of Nottingham

Dr Metka Potocnik, Senior Lecturer, School of Law, University of Wolverhampton

Dr Clara Martins Pereira, Associate Professor, Durham Law School

Professor Lydia Bleasdale, School of Law, University of Leeds

Professor Shaheen Sardar Ali, School of Law, University of Warwick

Natalie Haydon-Yeung, Assistant Professor, School of Law, University of Nottingham

16:10–17:00 Closing Remarks

Speaker: Professor Charlotte Villiers, University of Bristol Law School, Staying Positive Through Hope and Solidarity

17:00-18:00 Drinks and Networking

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Host or Publisher Dr Panpan Sun