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Sofia Strid

Deputy Head of Department

Department of Sociology and Work Science
Mail
sofia.strid@gu.se
Visiting address
Skanstorget 18
41122 Göteborg
Postal address
Box 720
40530 Göteborg

Senior Lecturer

Department of Sociology and Work Science
Mail
sofia.strid@gu.se
Visiting address
Skanstorget 18
41122 Göteborg
Postal address
Box 720
40530 Göteborg

About Sofia Strid

Sofia Strid is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Work Science at the University of Gothenburg, and Visiting Research Fellow at Oxford Brookes University, UK. She is the Deputy Head of Department and Director of Research Studies at the Institution for Sociology and Work Science, University of Gothenburg. She has previously held positions in Gender Studies, Policy Studies, Political Science, Sociology and Women's Studies in Austria, Belgium, Sweden and the UK; most recently in Sociology at Lancaster University, UK. Her research profile is international, multi-disciplinary and collaborative, with a focus on European multi-partner project and collaborations. She has communicated her research results via more than two hundred academic publications and one hundred and fifty conference presentations in 30 countries.

Research

Sofia Strid's research interests are oriented towards the social and political sciences and can be summarised as focusing on different forms of inequalities, their intersections and consequences thereof - including mobilisations to counteract - in different domains, systems and regimes. Her research has recently primarily focused on: 1) inequalities produced in times of crises (e.g. the financial crisis, covid crisis and sustainability crisis) and political and social mobilisation to mitigate these; 2) the concept, theory and measurement of different forms of violence and their interconnectedness; and 3) obstacles and barriers for the realisation of socially just and gender equal sustainability politics. She applies predominantly qualitative methods, and occasionally quantitative methods. She is currently the Scientific Coordinator and/or UGOT PI of the EU H2020 and Horizon Europe funded RESISTIRÉ, UniSAFE, ACCTING, SUPPORTER, GenderSAFE and ST4TE.

Sofia Strid's research has been published in in e.g., Current Sociology, Feminist Theory, Journal of European Social Policy, Journal of Sex Research, Politics and Governance, Social Politics, Social Problems, Sociologisk Forskning, Sociology, Theory & Society, andViolence against Women. It is funded by the European Commission, the European Parliament, the European Institute for Gender Equality, the Swedish Research Council and FORTE.

Current research projects

  • GenderSAFE: Advancing the zero-tolerance approach to gender-based violence in higher education and research in the European Research Area (2024-2027). The overall objective of GenderSAFE is to contribute to building safe, inclusive and respectful research and higher education environments, with zero-tolerance to violence. This will be realised through knowledge and evidence-based capacity-building, mutual learning and exchange, setting up instruments to monitor the uptake and content of RPO policies and promoting uptake of policies at the level of the RPOs, RFOs and national authorities. The UGOT team consists of Sofia Strid (PI), Fredrik Bondestam, Anne Laure Humbert, and Sarah Philipson Isaac. GenderSAFE is funded with 2 million euro by EU Horizon Europe
  • ST4TE: Strategies for just and equitable transitions in Europe (2024-2027). The project aims to investigate the impact of the green, digital and twin transition on inequalities among individuals and territories on the one hand and, on the other, to explore the way in which existing inequalities affect the transition paths creating cycles of inequalities and slow transition. ST4TE uses both quantitative methods (econometrics, machine-learning and agent-based modelling) as well as qualitative methods (narrative interviews, case studies and workshops) to analyse the different patterns of inequalities and envisage custom made policies to counterbalance the unequal effects of the twin transition. The UGOT team consists of Sofia Strid (PI), Anna Hedenus and Martin Hultman. Funded with 3 million euro by EU Horizon Europe.
  • SUPPORTER: Securing sports education through innovative and inclusive gender equality plans (2023-2025) aims to advance inclusive gender+ equality within the European Research Area. It supports institutions to develop intersectional, innovative, inclusive and impactful (4I) gender equality plans, tailored to sports higher education institutions, and explicitly addressing gender-based violence including sexual harassment. SUPPORTER is coordinated by the European Science Foundation (ESF). Sofia Strid is UGOT PI and leader of WP2. The UGOT team includes Nathalie Wuiame, Karin Grahn and Suzanne Lundvall. Funded with 1,1 million euro by EU Horizon Europe
  • ACCTING: Advancing behavioural change through an inclusive green deal (2021-2025). ACCTING mobilises research experimentation and innovation to advance a gender equal, inclusive and socially just European Green Deal. It specifically focuses on inequalities produced and reproduced in the context of Green Deal policy and interventions. It is based on interdisciplinary conceptual and methodological framework, inspired by strategic policy design-thinking. Starting with an extensive mapping and comparative analysis of bottom-up environmental initiatives in 34 countries, including the collection of 410 narratives followed by 41 experimental studies from eight research lines, results are fed into multi-sectoral so-called Open Studios to co-create innovative solutions. Results are used for further experimentation, including through pilot actions with mass implementation potential. The project relies on a 12 European partner consortium and researchers in 30+ countries. ACCTING coordinated by the European Science Foundation in Strasbourg. Sofia Strid is ACCTING's Scientific Coordinator, UGOT PI and leader of WP3. Funded with 5 million euro by EU Horizon 2020.
  • UniSAFE: Gender-based Violence and Institutional Responses: Building a Knowledge-base and Operational Tools to make Universities and Research Organisations Safe (2021-2024). UniSAFE analysis gender-based violence and sexual harassment in higher education in Europe. A nine EU-partner team and national researchers, all in all some 50 multidisciplinary researchers and innovators, investigates policies and legal frameworks in the EU27+ and in European research performing organisations, designs and implements the largest ever prevalence study in EU research performing organisations (n=42,000), conducts 16 in-depth case studies of organisational responses and infrastructures in 15 member states, and interviews 60 researchers at higher risk of gender-based violence. UniSAFE is coordinated by the European Science Foundation in Strasbourg. Sofia Strid is UniSAFE's Scientific Coordinator and leads the research groups at UGOT and Örebro University, she also leads WP6. Funded with 3,2 million euro by EU Horizon 2020.
  • RESISTIRÉ: Responding to Outbreaks through Co-creative Inclusive Equality Strategies (2021-2023). RESISTIRÉ, and its 11-partner EU-team, contributes to the reduction of gendered and intersectional inequalities arising from COVID-19 policy responses and creates innovative operational tools to address inequalities. It is designed to achieve its results through multi-disciplinary research insights, cross-sectoral co-creation, solution development and a wide dissemination strategy. The project will provide in-depth knowledge and understanding of existing problems, as well as current and future priorities and solutions. RESISTIRÉ is coordinated by the European Science Foundation in Strasbourg. Sofia Strid is RESISTIRÉ's Scientific Coordinator and leads the research groups at UGOT and Örebro University, she also leads WP3. Funded with 5,2 million euro by the EU H2020.

Previous projects

  • Violence Regimes: Theorising and Explaining Variations in the Production of Violence in Welfare State Regimes (2018-2022). PI: Sofia Strid, Örebro University, Sweden. Funded by the Swedish Research Council (VR).
  • Between Romance and Sexual Commerce: Sugar Dating and the renegotiation of the boundaries between economy and intimacy (2019-2022). PI: Lena Gunnarsson, Örebro University, Sweden. Funded by FORTE.
  • Femicide Across Europe (2015-2022), PI: Shalva Veil, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Funded by the European Commission H2020.
  • Feminist Theories on Intersectionality, Transversal Dialogues and New Synergies (2012-2018), PI: Nina Lykke, Linköping University, Sweden. Funded by the Swedish Research Council (VR).
  • FATIMA: Preventing Honour Related Violence by Education and Dialogue Through Immigrant NGO:s (2015-2018), PI: Yevgenia Averhead, Uppsala University, Sweden. Funded by the European Commission H2020.
  • Gender Based Violence in Sports (2015-2017), PI: Lut Mergaert, Yellow Window, Belgium. Funded by the European Commission.
  • Female Genital Mutilation: Girls at Risk in the EU, PI: Lut Mergaert, Yellow Window, Belgium. Funded by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE).
  • Rape and Sexual Violence in Conflict and Post-Conflict Zones (2014-2015), PI: Sylvia Walby, Lancaster University, UK. Funded by the European Parliament.
  • Worldwide Best Practices for Rape Prevention and for Assisting Women Victims of Rape (2013-2014), PI: Sylvia Walby, Lancaster University, UK. Funded by the European Parliament.
  • The Strength of Feminist Civil Society Organisations in the EU 27 (2010-2013), PI: Sofia Strid, Lancaster University, UK. Funded by the Swedish Research Council (VR), Sweden.
  • Physical and Legal Security and the Criminal Justice System (2009-2011), PI: Sylvia Walby, Lancaster University, UK. Funded by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, UK.
  • QUING: The Quality of Gender + Equality Policy (2006-2011), PI: Mieke Verloo, Radboud University, the Netherlands. Funded by the European Commission 6th Framework.

Teaching

Sofia Strid has designed and delivered courses related to her research interests, and lectures and supervises on all academic levels and in many disciplines, including Gender Studies, Law, Media and Communication, Political Science, Sociology, Social Work and the Teacher Education Programmes. She also develops and delivers workshops on gender equality, gender mainstreaming and gender-based violence for university staff, practitioners, and policymakers, for example within the EU Gender Equality Academy.

She has supervised seven PhD students (two as main supervisor, five as assistant) and examined four PhD theses in three countries; she currently supervises two PhD students with backgrounds in Gender Studies and Political Science. Sofia Strid welcomes research students and post docs with an interest in feminist violence studies and gendered and intersectional perspectives on sustainability.

Collaborations and service

Sofia Strid is active in well-established European wide networks and collaborations, many of which have developed from her work with the European Women's Lobby (2006-2007), as Research Associate in Sociology at Lancaster University in the EU 6th framework funded QUING: Quality in Gender+ Equality Policy in Europe, with PI Sylvia Walby and Scientific Director Mieke Verloo), and from her participation in the UNESCO Chair in Gender Research Group at Lancaster University, UK.

She is the previous Chair of the Nordic Association for Feminist Research and Gender Studies, the board of NORA; the Chair of SO9: Gender-Based Violence Section of the ECPG of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR); a member of the EU COST Action on Femicide; and the European Representative in the International Sociological Association (ISA) RC32: Women and Society.

Sofia Strid has served as an elected representative on the Faculty Board for Humanities and Social Sciences at Örebro University, the Örebro University representative in the Regional Administrative County's Resource Group on Violence against Women; an organising member of the annual National Gender Dialogue with gender researchers and Members of Parliament, and a founding member of the Regional Gender Dialogue with gender researchers and practicioners working with gender issues. She has also served as Head of Undergraduate Studies.