Politicising motherhood: The symbolic representation of women’s parental status in parliaments

Department: College of Business and Social Sciences

Contract Type: Fixed Term

Basis: Full Time

Closing Date: Thursday 24^th April 2025 23.59 (UK time)

Supervisor: Dr Anne Jenichen, Dr Emily Christopher & Dr Katie Tonkiss

Applications are invited for a three-year PhD studentship, supported by the College of Business and Social Sciences to be undertaken within the Department of Society and Politics at Aston University.

The position is available to start in October 2025.

Financial Support

This studentship includes a bursary to cover the tuition fees and an annual maintenance allowance for living costs. 

Background to the Project

The project focuses on the question of how the parental status of women is represented in the media, given that stereotypical and negative representations may reinforce political inequality, whereas positive representations may encourage more women to run for office, irrespective of their parental status. The PhD student will compare the symbolic representation of mothers and women without children in six democratic parliaments (UK and Ireland, Canada and US, and Australia and New Zealand) to ask how the print media portray them. They will conduct a discourse analysis of print media reporting in the six countries about prominent women politicians whose motherhood or childlessness had become salient during electoral campaigns and/or their terms in office. The project seeks to contribute to two debates in the field of women’s political representation: first, on the gendered role of parenthood in women’s political careers, primarily, to what extent, in the light of ‘politicised motherhood,’ motherhood can still be understood as a disadvantage for women’s political careers. Second, on the media representation of women politicians in general, namely whether women’s presence in parliaments has been normalised in media representation, or to what extent the media still reproduces gendered stereotypes that may hamper women’s political careers.

Person Specification

The successful candidate should hold a Masters degree in the social sciences (or related disciplines) with a Merit overall (or equivalent) with a dissertation/research element, PLUS a First or Upper Second Class Honours degree (or an equivalent qualification from an overseas institution).

Contact information

For formal enquiries about this project please contact Dr Anne Jenichen a.jenichen@aston.ac.uk.

Submitting an application

Your application must include:

1. English language copies of the transcripts and certificates for all your higher education degrees, including any Bachelor degrees.
2. A Research Statement detailing your understanding of the research area, how you would approach the project, and a brief review of relevant literature. Be sure to use the title of the research project you are applying for. The maximum word count is 1,200 words, excluding the Reference list.
3. A personal statement which outlines any further information which you think is relevant to your application, such as your personal suitability for research, career aspirations, possible future research interests, and further description of relevant employment experience.
4. Two academic referees who can discuss your suitability for independent research. References must be on headed paper, signed and dated no more than 2 years old. At least one reference should be from your most recent University. You can submit your references at a later date if necessary.
5. Evidence that you meet the English Language requirements. If you do not currently meet the language requirements, you can submit this at a later stage.
6. A copy of your passport. Where relevant, include evidence of settled or pre-settled status.

Apply for this position here

Alternatively, apply here

If you require further information about the application process, please contact the Postgraduate Admissions team at pgr_admissions@aston.ac.uk