Pat O'Connor

Professor, Emeritus Professor

1984 …2024

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Research Interests

Gender equality: with a current focus on power and gender equality in higher educational institutions; particularly leadership and management, organisational culture and structures, early academic careers and gender equality related interventions and support.

Teaching Interests

  Teaching areas and interests a) Sociology of Higher Education b) Sociology of Gender                     c) The Sociology of Love and its Dark Side c) Inputting into Contemporary Theory, the Sociology of Social Welfare and Introduction to Sociology from a gender perspective   

Biography

Professor Pat O'Connor is Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Limerick and Visiting Professor, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.andnbsp;Education: Ph.D University of London; M.Soc Sc (1st) UCD; B.Soc Sc (1st) UCD.andnbsp;Pat O Connor s research interests currently revolve around gender equality in higher education: with a particular focus onandnbsp; leadership and management,organisational culture, constructions of excellence, early careers, micropolitics and STEM. Her roughly 120 publications include nine books and over 80 peer reviewed refereed journal articles (seeandnbsp;Researchgate). A sociologist and feminist, she was the first woman to be appointed at (full) professorial level in the University of Limerick in 1997; and the first woman Faculty Dean there in 2000 and the first female professor of sociology in Ireland. She has been active in promoting gender equality at an organisational and national level and was a member of the National Review on Gender Equality in Irish Higher Education Institutions (HEA, 2016). A member of WHEM (Women in Higher Education Management Network) she has been involved in a number of international research consortia: including FESTA, an EU funded project (2012-17). andnbsp;She has held visiting professorships at the Universities of London; Aveiro; Linkoping; Deakin and Melbourne. A research evaluator for the European Science Foundation; for Nordic Spaces; for the Austrian Science Foundation etc, she was Chair of the International Research Panel for Linnaeus funding. She has been on the Advisory Boards of a number of international research projects including TARGET, CHANGE and RESET. She has edited/co-edited a number of Special Issues incl onandnbsp;Gender and Leadership (2018) andandnbsp; Creating Change: Gender, Leadership and Higher Education (2020).andnbsp;andnbsp;In the early part of her career, Pat O Connor s research interests focused on women s worlds: their attitudes to familial roles and their close ties (friendships; mother/daughter; sister/sister and marital pleasure). Her publications from this period include Friendships Between Women (2002/1992: Harvester Wheatsheaf (UK) Guilford (US)): nominated by Choice in the US as an Outstanding academic book.andnbsp; Her research interests later returned to these areas: focusing on the gendering of children and young people's lives. Irish Children and Teenagers in a Changing World (2008) reflects this focus.andnbsp;andnbsp;In the 1990s, she became concerned with organisational and institutional gendered power: in semi-state structures, in higher education, in the family and in the wider society. Emerging Voices: Women in Contemporary Irish Society (1998/1999) reflects the beginning of these interests. They are also reflected in her more recent focus on higher education,andnbsp; inandnbsp;Management and Gender in Higher Education (2014); Gendered Success in Higher Education: Global Perspectives (2017); Gender, Power and Higher Education in a Globalised World (2021) and Creating a Totally Inclusive University (2023) as well as in anandnbsp;extensive range of refereed journal articles and chapters (see Reseachgate: Pat O'Connor, University of Limerick). Her latest book is a memoir: A 'proper' woman : One woman's story of success and failure in Academia, published by Peter Lang.andnbsp;

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 1 - No Poverty
  • SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
  • SDG 4 - Quality Education
  • SDG 5 - Gender Equality
  • SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth
  • SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
  • SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
  • SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
  • SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals

Education/Academic qualification

PhD, Ph.D., University of East London

Award Date: 1 Jan 1987

External positions

Dean, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Scien, University of Limerick

1 Jan 2000 → …

Professor, University of Limerick

1 Jan 1997 → …

Course Director, University of Limerick

1 Jan 1991 → …

Course Director, Waterford Institute of Technology

1 Jan 1982 → …

Project Director, National Institute for Social Work - London

1 Jan 1979 → …

Research Officer, University of London

1 Jan 1973 → …

Research Assistant, ESRI, Dublin

1 Jan 1970 → …

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