Rachel Handforth

Rachel Handforth is a Senior Lecturer in Doctoral Education and Civic Engagement at Nottingham Trent University, specializing in gender dynamics and doctoral researcher development. She leads training programs for the Co(l)laboratory project, an £5.1m initiative fostering community-guided research across disciplines.

• Expertise in gender inequalities in higher education
• Focus on doctoral researcher wellbeing and career trajectories
• Active in civic engagement and community-led research models

Her recent research investigates pandemic impacts on doctoral mental health, affective experiences of imposter syndrome, and systemic barriers to belonging in STEM. Her work appears in journals like Gender and Education and Discourse, Context & Media, with a 2022 monograph analyzing doctoral belonging across disciplines.

Previously at Sheffield Hallam University and Careers Research and Advisory Centre, she has conducted evaluations for the Office for Students and Royal Society. Her practical work includes advising on researcher development frameworks and institutional wellbeing strategies.