Two academics from the University of Stirling have been shortlisted for prestigious awards celebrating the achievements of women in Scotland.
Carron Shankland, Professor of Computing Science, and Professor Karen Boyle, co-director of the Centre for Gender and Feminist Studies, are on the shortlist for the Scottish Women’s Awards 2017.
The awards, in their first year, recognise and celebrate the achievements of outstanding women in Scotland – from entrepreneurs, professionals and civil servants to academics, emergency workers and charity workers.
The awards consist of 28 categories, with between seven and ten notable Scottish women nominated in each.
Professor Shankland is shortlisted in the Services to Science & Technology category. Her work focuses on understanding the behaviour of biological systems through mathematical and computational models.
In 2016, she was one of 12 women in computing and mathematics to receive a Suffrage Science Award recognising both scientific achievement and ability to inspire others.
Passionate about the promotion of careers in science for women, Professor Shankland chairs CygnetS, a best-practice network of computing departments engaged in gender equality work. She initiated the University’s Athena SWAN work, to improve diversity in higher education, and has led it for the past four years.
Professor Shankland said: “I am excited to be doing research that makes a difference to society.
“I hope that, by being nominated for this award, I can act as a role model for young people who may not have realised that a career in science is open to them.”
Professor Boyle is shortlisted in the Services to Education category. Her main research area is on gender, violence and representation, and underpinning this work is a recognition that changes in representation do not only follow on from social changes, but can also help to bring about those changes.
She is the first Professor of Feminist Media Studies in the UK and is committed to working with women’s organisations to think about how academic research works in the world.
Professor Boyle said: “It is an honour to be nominated alongside other women working to challenge gender inequality across Scotland.
“This is such an exciting time for feminist education in Scotland, and Stirling has been leading the way in the development of applied postgraduate programmes in Gender Studies.
“Learning alongside our students is an absolute privilege and seeing the difference they make in the world is genuinely inspiring.”
The awards will take place at Glasgow’s Crowne Plaza Hotel on Wednesday, 30 August.
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