The Professor Kathleen Quinlivan 2026 Gender and Education Doctoral Thesis Award 

GEA wishes to support, nurture and encourage the next generation of feminist academics working in the broad field of gender and education by recognising innovation and excellence in the early career academic community whose work and scholarship is related to issues of gender and education. The GEA Thesis Award has been established in 2026 in recognition of the commitment to gender and education as a field and the regressive, hostile global environment that academics/advocates of gender progression and trans-inclusivity now find themselves working within. GEA wishes to champion inclusive gender and education research and celebrate and support the development of new feminist knowledges from the GEA ECA community. 

GEA’s inaugural doctoral award is named for Professor Kathleen Quinlivan. Kathleen was a proudly queer academic based in Aotearoa New Zealand who researched with queer teachers and young people in schools. Kathleen published widely on sexuality education and was a GEA member for many years, attending numerous GEA conferences globally. Kathleen died in 2020, her infectious laugh and generosity of spirit is missed by many. 

The winner of The Professor Kathleen Quinlivan GEA Doctoral Thesis Award will be announced at GEA’s annual conference in 2026 which is being held at the Auckland University of Technology, Aotearoa New Zealand. 

Prizes:  

  • Complimentary conference registration for the Gender and Education Association’s conference in 2027.  
  • An opportunity to present their thesis work at an upcoming GEA event as an invited speaker.   

Eligibility Criteria 

  • The applicant must be a fully paid member of GEA at the time of nominations.  If you are not already a member then you can find out more about joining us here.
  • The institution at which the student submitted their dissertation should have confirmed the degree awarded in the 2025 calendar year (January 1st 2025 – December 31st 2025); i.e. this award is awarded to students who have completed their final doctorate (and viva with any changes) in 2025. 

Application Details 

Supporting documents:  

  • An extended abstract (max 6,500 characters)
  • The thesis, provided through a link to your thesis hosted in google docs (with viewing and downloading rights provided).  
  • A supporting statement from your supervisor, second supervisor, examiner or other expert in the field outlining why they believe this dissertation meets the judging criteria below (max 3,500 characters)

Judging 

Nominations will be scored by a GEA section panel comprising of the exec committee. 

The panel’s assessment will be guided by the following criteria: 

  • Advancement of feminist theory in the broad field of gender and education 
  • Research quality appropriate to the nature and context of the work undertaken 
  • Methodological rigour and innovative research design 
  • Critical engagement with field related literature 
  • Innovative research design and methodology 
  • Effective and critical analysis of data 
  • Overall quality of the thesis 

Please note whilst not a criterion for judging entries, in the context of this prize and GEA more broadly, education is conceptualised broadly as: comprising formal and informal aspects and my include (though is not limited to pre-school, primary, and secondary education; families and youth cultures inside and outside schools; adult, community, further and higher education; vocational education and training; media education; public pedagogies; and parental education). 

Submission:  

Please submit your nomination via the GEA thesis prize google forms link here:  

Deadline:  

31st August 2026