Ruth Pearce

Ruth Pearce is a Lecturer in Community Development at the University of Glasgow's School of Education, specializing in trans health, gender studies, and social justice. She holds a PhD from the University of Warwick (2016) and is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Applied Transgender Studies. Her work focuses on intersectional approaches to marginalized communities, including trans healthcare, reproductive rights, and feminist methodologies. She co-edits the Community Development Journal and has advised on UK government inquiries, including the Gender Recognition Act reform. Recent research includes the BLA-HAJ study on trans youth healthcare outcomes and the Trans Pregnancy project. Her teaching includes research methods for community development and practitioner research projects.

Key research areas include trans pregnancy, microaggressions' mental health impacts, and critiques of neoliberal academia. She has secured grants totaling over £1 million for projects like Levelling the Field (Esmée Fairbairn) and the Trans Learning Partnership. Her work bridges activism and academia, emphasizing ethics in transgender health research and combatting institutional precarity.

Publications span journals like American Psychologist and Sociology, and books including Understanding Trans Health (2018). She has presented globally, from Lisbon to New Zealand, and sits on NHS and Scottish government advisory groups. Her advocacy includes challenging exclusionary policies and promoting trans-inclusive feminist frameworks.