On Thursday 15 October 2026, the Women’s Experiences in Sport (WEIS) Research Hub held the first online event to showcase the research being produced by members and networks involved at the Open University. In 2016, the first sport conference at The Open University was held, “Gender and Inequalities in Sport” to strengthen the research culture in sport and exercise. We have made huge progress since 2016 and the event, this year, celebrated a fantastic milestone to celebrate the research being produced over the past decade.
The event was a great success and also an opportunity for UG and PG students to attend and recognise the research-informed teaching that has been embedded into our teaching materials across our modules. We had interest from over 140 people, including academics, practitioners, students, with some very lively and engaging discussions. We heard from members of our newly launched WEIS Research Hub, welcomed back two professors who spoke at our 2016 conference as well as others with whom we’ve maintained and developed valuable research connections over the years.
For those who missed the event lived you can catch up by watching the recording via the link:
We received some incredible feedback about the event and had some fantastic speakers with the day consisting of the following:
Welcome note: Dr Helen Owton
Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology, Open University
Session1:
Professor Kath Woodward
Professor Emeritus, Open University
“Reflections on Change in Women’s Sport”
Tanya Martin
Women in Sport, Head of Insight and Innovation
Associate Lecturer, Open University
“Reimagining Sport Coaching: Designing a System that Works for Women”
Dr Jess Pinchbeck
Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise, Open University
Dr Caroline Heaney
Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology Open University
“Balancing the Scales in Women’s Sports Kit Design”
Session 2: Professor Kitrina Douglas
Professor of Narrative and Performative Research, University of West London
“What might change mean in Women’s Sport?”
Dr Helen Owton
Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology, Open University
“Women’s intense embodiment in motorcycling”
Dr Steph Doehler
Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise, Open University
“Women’s self-authored storytelling in digital sports media”
Session 3:
Dr Ali Bowes
Associate Professor in the Sociology of Sport, Nottingham Trent University
“Contemplating motherhood in high-performance women’s rugby”
Dr Candice Lingam-Willgoss
Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise, Head of School ECYS, Open University
“Negotiating Identity: How elite athlete mothers navigate their journey through sport”
Dr Michele Zanini
Lecturer in Applied Sport and Exercise Science, Open University
“Examples of female-specific considerations in endurance running physiology”
Dr Anika Leslie-Walker
Senior Lecturer in Sport Sociology, Nottingham Trent University
“Exploring ‘race’ and female fandom in women’s football”
With the launch of the new Research Hub, it is an exciting time to see how our Women’s experiences in sport (WEIS) research develops and what the next event might hold.
Please feel free to share with anyone who might be interested and please do not hesitate to get in touch with any queries.
Contact: [email protected]