Clare Edge

Dr Clare Edge is a Professor in the Department of Psychology within the School of Health & Society at the University of Salford. She serves as co-Lead for Research in Psychology and co-Directorate Lead for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion for Psychology. Clare is the founder and chair of the WOW (Wellbeing of ageing Women@Work) Network, which involves over 120 researchers and stakeholders across more than 25 countries, and chairs the WOW@Work_GM Group focused on policy change in Greater Manchester. Her work centers on gendered ageing and workplace wellbeing, particularly for women experiencing perimenopause and menopause.

Clare holds a BSc in Psychology, an MSc in Community Psychology, and a PhD. She is a Member of the British Psychological Society and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Her educational background laid the foundation for her current research focus on psychosocial factors affecting workplace health and wellbeing, particularly in the context of extended working lives with attention to gender dynamics. Prior to academia, she worked in the charity and voluntary sector leading national and regional projects including mental health service evaluations.

Her research interests focus on wellbeing, workplace wellbeing, ageing, and life course gender-based inequality. Clare employs mixed research methods to explore women's wellbeing across the life course, extended working life, self-perceptions of ageing in work, and social norms in the workplace relating to ageing and womanhood. Her work often takes an intersectional approach, examining how gender, age, and socioeconomic status interact to shape workplace experiences. She has conducted studies with N=137 women experiencing perimenopause or menopause and has explored wellbeing among female professors over 50 and women in lower paid roles aged 60+.

Clare's recent research has significant policy implications, particularly regarding gender equity in the workplace as populations age. She has secured multiple funding awards to support her research, including QR funds for an inaugural conference, Reignite your Research Funding, and Policy Funds 24/25 for co-creating research projects and policy briefs. Her work contributes to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals related to health, gender equality, decent work, and reduced inequality.

• Policy Funds 24/25: Funding to co-create research projects exploring gender and ageing in the workplace
• Reignite your Research Funding (2023): Supported data collection for qualitative study with women aged 60+
• QR Funds for Inaugural Conference (2023): Brought together researchers from across Europe
• Full Member: Community Psychology Section, British Psychological Society (2017-2025)

Clare actively supervises PhD students and has co-supervised projects on work sustainability and postgraduate research student experiences. She serves as a peer reviewer for numerous prestigious journals including Ageing and Society and European Journal of Ageing. Her leadership extends to managing research interns and coordinating the WOW@Work_GM policy project, which works with a women's voice steering group to drive policy change in Greater Manchester through collaborative knowledge exchange and co-produced outputs.