Dr Ruth Pearce

Senior Lecturer (School of Education)

pronouns: She/her/hers

Biography

I am a Senior Lecturer in Community Development. My work explores issues of inequality, marginalisation, power, and transformative political struggle from an interdisciplinary trans feminist perspective.

I joined the School of Education and the Community Development team in July 2021, having previously worked in the voluntary sector and in various precarious, part-time and/or fixed-term academic research, teaching, and administrative roles. I am committed to acknowledging the violence and exclusionary nature of this academic pathway, and fighting against precarity alongside my colleagues.

My PhD was awarded by the University of Warwick in 2016. My thesis looked at how trans health is differently understood within trans communities, activist groups and professional literatures, with a range of meanings and practices contested within and between these spaces. Findings from this work have been published in the book Understanding Trans Health (Policy Press, 2018).

I am co-Editor of the Community Development Journal, a Senior Fellow at the Center for Applied Transgender Studies, and also sit on the Editorial Board for the Bulletin of Applied Transgender Studies. I am a former member of the Editorial Board for the Sociological Review, and have undertaken peer review for many other leading journals and publishers.

You can read more about my work (and access free versions of most my academic publications) on my personal site: http://ruthpearce.net.

Research interests

I am interested in how communities of marginalised peoples can work to positively transform their own lives within, against, and outside of social, educational, and political institutions.

My research to date has included:

BLA-HAJ (Culturally competent outcome measurement in trans youth healthcare) (2024-2028) - international study looking at the design of valid care and well-being outcome indicators for young trans people (ESRC funded).
Trans Learning Partnership (2020-2026) - a series of participatory research projects involving trans community members and voluntary sector organisations. I co-wrote three successful funding applications, provided research training, and supported dissemination of findings (various funders).
Queer and feminist music scenes (2012-2022) - a series of collaborative projects with Dr Kirsty Lohman, exploring cultural production and grassroots community development within DIY and punk spaces (largely unfunded).
Trans Pregnancy (2017-2021) - international research on pregnancy and childbirth among trans people as part of the Trans Pregnancy project (ESRC funded), plus a support role in the community-based research project Improving Trans Experiences of Maternity Services (NHS England funded).
Athena SWAN and equality accreditation (2017-2018) - a critical examination of equality accreditation within Higher Education, including a collaborative study with Dr Charoula Tzanakou.
Understanding Trans Health (2010-2018) - a study of experiences and discourses associated with trans healthcare services in the UK.

I have also written on social research ethics and methodologies, plus trans and feminist politics. For more information, see my publications list and my personal website.

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2008

Number of items: 41.

2025

Horton, Cal and Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X (2025) The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the rights of trans children in Scotland. International Journal of Children's Rights, 33(4), pp. 859-889. (doi: 10.1163/15718182-33040004)

Wright, Talen, Lewis, Gemma, Greene, Talya, Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X and Pitman, Alexandra (2025) The association between microaggressions and mental health among UK trans people: a cross-sectional study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 60(5), pp. 1211-1225. (doi: 10.1007/s00127-024-02775-2) (PMID:39325174) (PMCID:PMC12119694)

Hines, Sally, White, Francis Ray, Pfeffer, Carla, Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X and Riggs, Damien (2025) Embodied experiences of trans pregnancy. Body and Society, 31(1-2), pp. 39-66. (doi: 10.1177/1357034X251322115)

Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X (2025) Suicide affirmation and the positive right to die. Symbolic Interaction, (doi: 10.1002/symb.1237)[Book Review] (Early Online Publication)

Adams, Noah, Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X, Veale, Jaimie, Radix, Asa, Sarkar, Amrita and Castro, Danielle (2025) By us and for us: bringing ethics into transgender health research. In: Wolf-Gould, Carolyn, Denny, Dallas, Green, Jamison and Lynch, Kyan (eds.) A History of Transgender Medicine in the United States: From Margins to Mainstream. SUNY Press: New York. ISBN 9798855801217 (In Press)

White, Francis Ray, Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X, Riggs, Damien W., Pfeffer, Carla A. and Hines, Sally (2025) ‘Why is the chubby guy running?’: Trans pregnancy, fatness and cultural intelligibility. Journal of Applied Philosophy, 42(1), pp. 415-430. (doi: 10.1111/japp.12772)

2024

Gupta, Kat and Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X (2024) From conflict to collaboration: solidarity and compromise in trans and women’s movements. In: Pukallus, Stefanie L. and Connaughton, Stacey (eds.) Routledge Handbook of Conflict and Peacebuilding Communication. Routledge. ISBN 9781032490489

Horton, Cal and Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X (2024) The U.K.’s Cass Review Badly Fails Trans Children. [Website]

Horton, Cal, Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X, Veale, Jaimie, Oakes-Monger, T.C., Pang, Ken C., Pullen Sansfaçon, Annie and Quinney, Sophie (2024) Child rights in trans healthcare – a call to action. International Journal of Transgender Health, 25(3), pp. 313-320. (doi: 10.1080/26895269.2024.2360359)

Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X, Pfeffer, Carla, Riggs, Damien W., White, Francis Ray and Hines, Sally (2024) Trans birth parents’ experiences of domestic violence: Conditional affirmation, cisgenderist coercion, and the transformative potential of perinatal care. Bulletin of Applied Transgender Studies, 3(1-2), pp. 45-68. (doi: 10.57814/nkc8-tc97)

2023

Pfeffer, Carla A., Hines, Sally, Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X, Riggs, Damien W., Ruspini, Elisabetta and White, Francis Ray (2023) Medical uncertainty and reproduction of the “normal”: decision-making around testosterone therapy in transgender pregnancy. SSM - Qualitative Research in Health, 4, 100297. (doi: 10.1016/j.ssmqr.2023.100297)

Riggs, Damien W., Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X, Hines, Sally, Pfeffer, Carla A. and White, Francis Ray (2023) Whiteness in research on men, trans/masculine and non-binary people and reproduction: two parallel stories. In: Andreassen, Rikke, Lundström, Catrin, Keskinen, Suvi and Tate, Shirley Anne (eds.) The Routledge International Handbook of New Critical Race and Whiteness Studies. Series: Routledge international handbooks. Routledge: London, pp. 339-349. ISBN 9780367637699

Riggs, Damien W., Hines, Sally, Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X, Pfeffer, Carla A. and White, Francis Ray (2023) ‘Spunkles’, donors, and fathers: men, trans/masculine, and non-binary people’s accounts of sperm donors and their relationships to children. In: Kelly, Fiona, Dempsey, Deborah and Byrt, Adrienne (eds.) Donor-Linked Families in the Digital Age: Relatedness and Regulation. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY, pp. 192-208. ISBN 9781316518519 (doi: 10.1017/9781009008129.014)

Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X, Hines, Sally, Pfeffer, Carla A., Riggs, Damien W., Ruspini, Elisabetta and White, Francis R. (2023) Giving birth as a father: experiences of trans birthing parents. In: Gill-Peterson, Jules (ed.) The Conversation on Gender Diversity. Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore. ISBN 9781421446189 (doi: 10.56021/9781421446196)

Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X (2023) Non-binary genders: navigating communities, identities and healthcare. Community Development Journal, 58(2), pp. 359-361. (doi: 10.1093/cdj/bsab035)[Book Review]

2022

Riggs, Damien W., Pfeffer, Carla A., White, Francis Ray, Hines, Sally and Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X (2022) Young men, trans/masculine, and non-binary people's views about pregnancy. In: Riggs, Damien W., Ussher, Jane M., Robinson, Kerry H. and Rosenberg, Shoshana (eds.) Trans Reproductive and Sexual Health: Justice, Embodiment and Agency. Series: Women and psychology. Routledge: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY, pp. 156-174. ISBN 9780367686192 (doi: 10.4324/9781003138310-9)

LGBT Foundation, Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X, Topper, Yuval and Martin, Paul (2022) Trans and Non-Binary Experiences of Maternity Services. Project Report. LGBT Foundation, Manchester.

2021

Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X (2021) Academic freedom and the paradox of tolerance. Nature Human Behaviour, 5(11), p. 1461. (doi: 10.1038/s41562-021-01214-5)

Lohman, Kirsty and Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X (2021) Queering community development in DIY punk spaces. In: Meade, Rosie and Shaw, Mae (eds.) Arts, Culture and Community Development. Series: Rethinking community development. Policy Press: Bristol, pp. 111-130. ISBN 9781447340515

Riggs, Damien W., Hines, Sally, Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X, Pfeffer, Carla A. and White, Francis Ray (2021) Trans parenting. In: O'Reilly, Andrea (ed.) Maternal Theory: Essential Readings, The 2nd Edition. Demeter Press: Bradford, Ontario, pp. 807-815. ISBN 9781772583830

Riggs, Damien W., Pfeffer, Carla A., Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X, Hines, Sally and White, Francis Ray (2021) Men, trans/masculine, and non-binary people negotiating conception: normative resistance and inventive pragmatism. International Journal of Transgender Health, 22(1-2), pp. 6-17. (doi: 10.1080/15532739.2020.1808554)

Hines, Sally, Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X, Pfeffer, Carla A., Riggs, Damien W. and White, Francis Ray (2021) Trans pregnancy: fertility, reproduction and body autonomy. International Journal of Transgender Health, 22(1-2), pp. 1-5. (doi: 10.1080/26895269.2021.1884289)

2020

Riggs, Damien W., Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X, Pfeffer, Carla A., Hines, Sally, White, Francis Ray and Ruspini, Elisabetta (2020) Men, trans/masculine, and non-binary people’s experiences of pregnancy loss: an international qualitative study. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 20, 482. (doi: 10.1186/s12884-020-03166-6) (PMID:32831015) (PMCID:PMC7444198)

Dietz, Chris and Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X (2020) Depathologising gender: vulnerability in trans health law. In: Dietz, Chris, Travis, Mitchell and Thomson, Michael (eds.) A Jurisprudence of the Body. Series: Palgrave socio-legal studies. Springer, pp. 179-203. ISBN 9783030421991 (doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-42200-4_8)

Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X (2020) A methodology for the marginalised: surviving oppression and traumatic fieldwork in the neoliberal academy. Sociology, 54(4), pp. 806-824. (doi: 10.1177/0038038520904918)

Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X, Erikainen, Sonja and Vincent, Ben (2020) Afterword: TERF wars in the time of COVID-19. Sociological Review, 68(4), pp. 882-888. (doi: 10.1177/0038026120934712)

Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X, Erikainen, Sonja and Vincent, Ben (2020) TERF wars: an introduction. Sociological Review, 68(4), pp. 677-698. (doi: 10.1177/0038026120934713)

Vincent, Ben, Erikainen, Sonja and Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X (2020) TERF Wars: Feminism and the Fight for Transgender Futures [Guest Editors]. Sociological Review, 68(4),

2019

Riggs, Damien W., Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X, Pfeffer, Carla A., Hines, Sally, White, Francis and Ruspini, Elisabetta (2019) Transnormativity in the psy disciplines: constructing pathology in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and Standards of Care. American Psychologist, 74(8), pp. 912-924. (doi: 10.1037/amp0000545) (PMID:31697127)

Tzanakou, Charikleia and Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X (2019) Moderate feminism within or against the neoliberal university? The example of Athena SWAN. Gender, Work and Organization, 26(8), pp. 1191-1211. (doi: 10.1111/gwao.12336)

Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X, Moon, Igi, Gupta, Kat and Steinberg, Deborah Lynn (Eds.) (2019) The Emergence of Trans: Culture, Politics and Everyday Lives. Series: Gender, bodies and transformation. Routledge (Taylor & Francis). ISBN 9781138504103

Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X and Lohman, Kirsty (2019) De/constructing DIY identities in a trans music scene. Sexualities, 22(1-2), pp. 97-113. (doi: 10.1177/1363460717740276)

Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X, Steinberg, Deborah Lynn and Moon, Igi (2019) Introduction: the emergence of ‘trans’. Sexualities, 22(1-2), pp. 3-12. (doi: 10.1177/1363460717740261)

Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X (2019) Moving through the world as a woman. In: Crimmins, Gail (ed.) Strategies for Resisting Sexism in the Academy: Higher Education, Gender and Intersectionality. Series: Palgrave studies in gender and education. Palgrave Macmillan: Cham, pp. 17-34. ISBN 9783030048518 (doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-04852-5_2)

Jenkins, Katharine ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8438-8633 and Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X (2019) The Gender Recognition Act: A trans-inclusive feminist approach. Documentation. University of Nottingham Institute for Policy and Engagement.

Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X and White, Francis Ray (2019) Beyond the pregnant man: representing trans pregnancy in A Deal With The Universe. Feminist Media Studies, 19(5), pp. 764-767. (doi: 10.1080/14680777.2019.1630925)

2018

Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X (2018) Trans temporalities and non-linear ageing. In: King, Andrew, Almack, Kathryn, Suen, Yiu-Tung and Westwood, Sue (eds.) Older Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans People: Minding the Knowledge Gaps. Routledge: London ; New York, pp. 61-74. ISBN 9781138644939 (doi: 10.4324/9781315628462-5)

Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X (2018) Understanding Trans Health: Discourse, Power and Possibility. Policy Press. ISBN 9781447342359

2017

Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X (2017) Certifying Equality? Critical Reflections on Athena SWAN and equality accreditation. Project Report. Centre for the Study of Women and Gender, University of Warwick.

Adams, Noah, Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X, Veale, Jaimie, Radix, Asa, Castro, Danielle, Sarkar, Amrita and Thom, Kai Cheng (2017) Guidance and ethical considerations for undertaking transgender health research and institutional review boards adjudicating this research. Transgender Health, 2(1), pp. 165-175. (doi: 10.1089/trgh.2017.0012) (PMID:29098202) (PMCID:PMC5665092)

2008

Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X (2008) Under Construction: Trans Students. Documentation. National Union of Students, London.

This list was generated on Sun Apr 5 14:05:33 2026 BST.

Number of items: 41.

Articles

Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X (2021) Academic freedom and the paradox of tolerance. Nature Human Behaviour, 5(11), p. 1461. (doi: 10.1038/s41562-021-01214-5)

Books

Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X (2018) Understanding Trans Health: Discourse, Power and Possibility. Policy Press. ISBN 9781447342359

Book Sections

Book Reviews

Edited Books

Research Reports or Papers

Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X (2008) Under Construction: Trans Students. Documentation. National Union of Students, London.

Website

Horton, Cal and Pearce, Ruth ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9285-303X (2024) The U.K.’s Cass Review Badly Fails Trans Children. [Website]

This list was generated on Sun Apr 5 14:05:33 2026 BST.

Grants

[Co-I] BLA-HAJ (Culturally competent outcome measurement in trans youth healthcare. 2024-2028. Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). With PI Cal Horton, plus others.

[Co-PI] Gender Joy: the embodied politics of sex, desire and oppression. 2022-2023. Reinvigorating Research Scheme, University of Glasgow. With Co-PI Katharine Jenkins.

[Co-author] Trans Learning Partnership. 2022-2024. Cornerstone Fund. Charitable grant for the Trans Learning Partnership, hosted by Spectra CIC.

[Lead author] Levelling the Field: Centering Trans People of Colour in Community Led Service Provision and Policy. 2021-2023. Esmée Fairbairn. Charitable grant for the Trans Learning Partnership, hosted by Spectra CIC.

[Co-author] Trans Learning Partnership. 2021-2022. Trust for London. Charitable grant for the Trans Learning Partnership, hosted by Spectra CIC.

[Co-I] Trans and non-binary people’s experiences of maternity services. 2020. NHS England. With the National LGB&T Partnership.

[PI] Trans health in Aotearoa New Zealand. 2019. Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship, University of Leeds.

[Co-I] Re-theorising Gender and Sexuality: The Emergence of Trans. 2012-2014. Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). With PI Professor Deborah Lynn Steinberg and Co-I Dr Lyndsey Moon.

[PI] Understanding Trans Health. 2011-2016. Department of Sociology, University of Warwick.

Supervision

I welcome enquiries from prospective doctoral students interested in conducting social research on questions of sexuality, gender, feminist methodologies, and applied transgender studies, especially from an interdisciplinary social research perspective and/or within the field of community development. Please ensure that you include a draft research proposal.

Information on applying for a PhD, MPhil, or EdD in the School of Education can be found here.

Information on PhD funding within the College of Social Sciences (in which the School of Education is based) can be found here.

If you wish to apply for ESRC doctoral funding through the Scottish Graduate School of Social Sciences in the autumn 2026 round, please share your initial enquiry with me by August 2026 at the latest.

Important note: the UK is not currently a safe environment for LGBTIQ+ individuals, and the University of Glasgow has yet to clearly outline how it will respond to segregation measures for trans people proposed by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. I encourage prospective students to take this into account if you are considering an application.

I am currently supervising the following students at the University of Glasgow:

Feng, Xuqing
How do trans people seeking assistance from gender identity clinics understand gender?
Qiao, Leshui
Supervised with Prof Dennis Francis and Dr Adnan Hossain.

Bose, Rhea
Consolidating, Contesting and Reimagining Care: Looking at Diverse Knowledge Systems on Gender Affirming Care for Transmasculine Persons in Kolkata, India

Previous projects I have supported or supervised include:

2023-2025: Han Edgoose (Philosophy, University of Glasgow)
Ideology, epistemic injustice, and ignorance: an analysis of the trans panic
2020-2023: Talen Wright (Psychiatry, University College London)
Trans and Non-binary Suicidality: Microaggressions & Mental Health
Thesis committee member.

Teaching

I teach or coordinate several courses for the BA Community Development and MEd/PgDip Adult Education, Community Development & Youth Work in the School of Education. This year's teaching includes:

BA Community Development (BACD)

Challenge, Change, and Action (Year 2, semester 1)
Research Project (Year 4, semesters 1+2: course lead)

MEd/PgDip Adult Education, Community Development, and Youth Work (ACY)

Practitioner Research Project (semester 2: course lead)

In previous years I have taught on the following courses:

Understanding Power in Communities (BACD Year 2)
Introduction to Research (Year 3, semester 2)
Approaches and Applied Research (BACD Year 4)
Research Methods (Ethics and Research in Communities) (ACY)

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