For 2024-25, the Department of Law at Queen Mary University of London is offering a 3-year funded studentship to support research in the field of women in the UK legal profession, beginning in September 2024.
The successful candidate is expected to complete a doctoral research project within this field.
The first women to qualify as barristers and solicitors were pioneers, who achieved their professional status in the face of opposition, obstruction, and outright hostility. For the most part, these early women lawyers’ true achievements have not been previously documented and therefore their lives have been lost to history. They are an essential part of the struggle for women’s legal equality, a struggle that is still ongoing.
It is envisaged that the successful candidate will complete a doctoral thesis which will take the admission of Carrie Morrison in 1922, the first woman to become a solicitor of England and Wales, alongside the experience of other early woman lawyers, to explore the gendered and unequal nature of the legal profession in the present day.
The methods employed for the thesis may include a combination of archival and empirical research and qualitative interviews with surviving early women solicitors and barristers and/or their family members as well as current women lawyers. Applicants may take a theoretical, historical or other perspective as they wish.
The project will be undertaken with access to the extensive archives of Lady Elizabeth which includes the records of the 1919 Club and the Association of Women Solicitors as well as a personal library of several hundred books on women’s history between 1880-1930, giving the researcher access to a wealth of knowledge on the experiences of early women solicitors in the UK.
The thesis will be supervised by Dr Caroline Morris of the Department of Law.
Only applicants who submit a PhD application including all required supporting documentation, including a 2,000-word research proposal that addresses the proposed topic as outlined above, will be considered.
Applicant must meet the academic and English language entry requirements for the PhD programme of the School of Law. These include confirmation that the applicant has obtained a Pass with Distinction or equivalent in a post-graduate degree in law, such as an LLM. Information about the exceptional circumstances in which this requirement can be waived is also provided.
The deadline for applications is Wednesday 31 July 2024. To be considered for the award, you must have submitted your main PhD application, with supporting documentation, by this date. You should name Dr Morris as your proposed supervisor in the appropriate section of the application form.
To indicate you want to be considered for this award, please contact Dr Caroline Morris in advance of the application deadline with confirmation. You should submit a copy of your research proposal and a CV to Dr Morris: c.morris@qmul.ac.uk.