Thao Phan

Thao Phan is a feminist science and technology studies (STS) researcher and Lecturer in Sociology (STS) at the Australian National University (ANU), specifically within the Research School of Social Sciences. Her research focuses on gender, race, and AI systems, examining how algorithmic systems construct societal categories like gender, race, and nation. She holds a PhD in Media and Communications from the University of Melbourne (2020).

Thao contributes to academic discourse through editorial roles at journals such as Science, Technology & Human Values and Catalyst: Feminism, Theory, Technoscience. She co-edited volumes like Economies of Virtue: The Circulation of 'Ethics' in AI and published in journals including Big Data & Society and Cultural Studies.

Her affiliations include the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (as Research Fellow, 2021–2024) and the Australian Academy of Science’s National Committee for the History and Philosophy of Science (2023–2025). She co-founded AusSTS, Australia’s largest STS network, and serves on the Society for the Social Studies of Science Council.