Personal profile
Research interests
Sarah conducts qualitative research related to issues of inequality and social justice. In particular, Sarah's research focuses on analyses of discourse and voice, particularly in relation to education policy and practice, in order to understand how social issues are officially constructed and (re)negotiated by those implicated by them. In addition, Sarah's work takes a critical look at the role of psychology as a discipline in (re)producing and challenging oppression.
Biography
After completing her BSc (Hons) Psychology at Leeds Beckett University in 2015, Sarah worked as the Vice President (Welfare) at Leeds Beckett Students' Union, where she engaged in campaigns and policy changes related to student welfare at university, particularly in relation to sexism and sexual violence.
In 2016, Sarah began her PhD in Psychology at Leeds Beckett. Sarah's PhD investigated discourses of fatness and motherhood (re)produced through UK government 'childhood obesity' policy. As part of this project, Sarah interviewed mothers and used Feminist Relational Discourse Analysis to analyse their stories and voices in order to understand how women negotiate and navigate the discourses in within this 'childhood obesity' policy. Sarah completed her PhD in 2020.
During her PhD, Sarah was also a core member of the Curriculum Decolonisation Project, working with students and staff to highlight the lack of diversity and issues of colonisation within Higher Education curriculums, particularly within psychology, and to understand staff possibilities and resistance with regards to decolonisation.
From 2019, Sarah worked at Staffordshire University as a Lecturer in Psychology, where she developed and led a module in critical psychology before joining the University of Birmingham as a Lecturer in Psychology in Education in 2021.
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):
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SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
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SDG 4 Quality Education
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SDG 5 Gender Equality
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SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Leveraging QuantCrit to expose and challenge systemic racism in educational psychology
Castillo, W. & Gillborn, S., 27 Oct 2025, In: Educational Psychologist. 60, 4, p. 301-316 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile1 Downloads (Pure) -
The psychological complex in contemporary education policy
Gillborn, S. & Delahunty, T., 11 Mar 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Journal of Education Policy. 24 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile86 Downloads (Pure) -
It doesn't measure up: Tracking kids' BMIs needs to end
Gillborn, S., 25 Mar 2024, Academy of Social Sciences.Research output: Other contribution
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'Intensely white': psychology curricula and the (re)production of racism
Gillborn, S., Woolnough, H., Jankowski, G. & Sandle, R., 29 Jul 2023, In: Educational Review. 75, 5, p. 813-832 20 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile135 Downloads (Pure) -
A feminist relational discourse analysis of mothers’ voiced accounts of the ‘duty to protect’ children from fatness and fatphobia
Gillborn, S., Rickett, B. & Woolhouse, M., 1 May 2022, In: Feminism and Psychology. 32, 2, p. 224-245 22 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile190 Downloads (Pure)
Projects
- 1 Finished
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Mapping Contemporary Critical Psychology in the UK
Gillborn, S. (Principal Investigator)
1/09/23 → 30/09/25
Project: Research Councils
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Psychology and the (re)production of racism
Gillborn, S. (Keynote speaker)
25 Mar 2021Activity: Academic and Industrial events › Conference, workshop or symposium
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Psychology and the reproduction of racism
Gillborn, S. (Chair)
25 Mar 2021Activity: Academic and Industrial events › Guest lecture or Invited talk