Staff Profile

Research Interests

• Gender, women and politics,
• Race, ethnicity and politics
• Intersectionality
• Parliaments and political representation
• Women's movements and feminism
• Media and politics
• Quantitative and qualitative research methods

Qualifications

• PhD Political Science, University College London
• MA Gender Studies, University College London
• MA Scandinavian Studies and Art History, University of Edinburgh

Previous Positions

• Goldsmiths University, Associate Lecturer: Feminist Politics (Spring Term)
• University of Bristol, Associate Lecturer: Gender and Politics (Autumn Term)
• UCL Institute of Education, Research Associate: Transnational Feminist Activism on Gender and Education
• London School of Economics, Research Assistant: Gender, Inequality and Power Commission
• Rutgers University, Visiting Scholar: Center for American Women and Politics
• Bournemouth University, Research Assistant: Women and the UK 2015 General Election
• Mannheim Centre for European Social Research, Research Assistant: Euromanifestos Project
• University College London, Teaching Fellow: Qualitative Methods
• University College London, Teaching Fellow: Quantitative Methods

Roles and Responsibilities

• Degree Programme Director for BA in Politics (L200)

Overview

I use intersectionality as a theoretical framework to investigate how women's political representation varies along racial, religious, class and partisan lines. Currently, I am analysing women's substantive representation in the UK parliament. My PhD analysed the combined effects of political candidates’ race and gender campaign on media coverage in the US and UK. The thesis was awarded the 2019 Joni Lovenduski Prize. Relevant publications are detailed below. I also consult on the advancement of women’s interests through civil society and development programming, and have been funded by UNESCO, Australian Aid,  Developmental Leadership Program and Pacific Leadership Program.

2023                  “Needles in a Haystack: The Descriptive, Constitutive and Substantive Representation of Minoritized Women.” European Journal of Politics and Gender (ranked 56/634 in Politics and International Relations by Scopus)

2023                  “What Constitutes Substantive Representation?” Political Studies Review (five-year impact factor: 2.298, ranked 47/182 in Political Science)

2020                        “Trump, Clinton, and the Gendering of Newspaper Discourse About the 2016 US Presidential Election Debates." Women's Studies in Communication (with Emily Harmer & Heather Savigny) pp.1-21 (impact factor: 1.23, ranked 39/46 in Gender Studies)

2017                  “Intersectionality and Press Coverage of Political Campaigns: Representations of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Female Candidates at the UK 2010 General Election”, International Journal of Press/Politics, volume 22, issue 01, pp. 43-66, (impact factor: 2.468, ranked 31 /169 in Political Science)

2016                  “Seeing Double: Race, Gender and Coverage of Minority Women’s Campaigns for the US House of Representatives”, Politics & Gender, volume 12, issue 02, pp. 317-343, (impact factor: 1.641, ranked 59/169 in Political Science, 12/146 in Gender Studies)

2016                  “Are you tough enough?’ Performing Gender in the UK Leadership Debates 2015”, Media, Culture & Society (with Emily Harmer & Heather Savigny), volume 39, issue 07, (impact factor: 1.305, ranked 43/84 in Communication)

2016                  “Media Framing of Black Women’s Campaigns for the US House of Representatives in 2012” in Distinct Identities: Minority Women in US Politics, Eds. Nadia E. Brown & Sarah Allen Gershon, London: Routledge

2014                  “The 2009 British MPs' Expenses Scandal: Origins, Evolution and Consequences” (with Jennifer vanHeerde-Hudson), in The Political Costs of the 2009 British MPs’ Expenses Scandal, Ed. Jennifer vanHeerde-Hudson, London: Palgrave Macmillan

2022                        UN Women (Senior Consultant) Oversight of Gender Country Briefs for all Pacific Island Countries and Territories

2020                        Activate Collective (Impact Evaluation Consultant) Interim Impact Evaluation Report of pilot scheme sponsoring political candidates from marginalised groups (with Neema Begum),

2018                  UNESCO (Consultant) Accountability for Gender Equality: Background paper prepared for the 2018 Global Education Monitoring Report Gender Review (with Elaine Unterhalter and Alice North),

2018                  Developmental Leadership Program (Consultant) From Silos to Synergy: Learning from Politically Informed, Gender Aware Programs (with Helen Derbyshire, Sam Gibson, David Hudson and Chris Roche),

2016                  Australian Aid / Pacific Leadership Program (Consultant) Lessons Learned on Thinking and Working Politically for the Ratification of CEDAW in Tonga (with Jennifer vanHeerde–Hudson),

2015                  London School of Economics (Contributor): Confronting Gender Inequality: Findings from the LSE Commission on Gender, Inequality and Power (Co-directors: Nicola Lacey and Diane Perrons),

2014                  National Union of Students (Contributor): Education Beyond the Straight and                                    Narrow

• “Intersectionality and Ministerial Access: Which Women’s Organisations are Heard and Why?” with Ashlee Christoffersen (Presented/accepted at PSA, ECPR ECPG, EPOP, APSA)
• “The Constitutive Representation of Black Masculinity in Parliamentary Debates” with Shardia Briscoe-Palmer (Presented/accepted at PSA/ECPR ECPG)
•  “Political and Community Campaigns as Intersectional Institutions: Candidates’ and Campaigners’ Experiences of Structural Inequalities in the Context of Covid” with Neema Begum
• “The Constitutive Representation of Minoritized Women and its Effects: Evidence from the UK”
• “An intersectional feminist (re)conceptualisation of descriptive representatives”

Undergraduate Teaching

• POL2113 : Sex, Gender and Power (Module Leader)
• POL2017: Becoming a Political Researcher (Module Leader)

• POL1047 : Power, Participation and Democracy: Comparative Perspectives

Prizes

• 2020 Faculty Teaching Award (nomination)
• 2016 Departmental Teaching Award, UCL

• Siow O. What constitutes substantive representation, and where should we evaluate it?. Political Studies Review 2023, 21(3), 532-538.
• Siow O. Needles in a Haystack: The Descriptive, Constitutive, and Substantive Representation of Racially Minoritized Women. European Journal of Politics & Gender 2023, 6(3), 328-358.
• Ward O. Intersectionality and Press Coverage of Political Campaigns: Representations of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Female Candidates at the UK 2010 General Election. International Journal of Press/Politics 2017, 22(1), 43-66.
• Harmer E, Savigny H, Ward O. 'Are you tough enough?' Performing gender in the UK leadership debates 2015. Media, Culture & Society 2017, 39(7), 960-975.
• Ward O. Media Framing of Black Women’s Campaigns for the US House of Representatives. In: Nadia E. Brown, Sarah Allen Gershon, ed. Distinct Identities: Minority Women in US Politics. London: Routledge, 2016, pp.153-170.
• Ward O. Seeing Double: Race, Gender, and Coverage of Minority Women's Campaigns for the U.S. House of Representatives. Politics & Gender 2016, 12(2), 317-343.
• vanHeerde-Hudson J, Ward O. The 2009 British MPs' Expenses Scandal: Origins, Evolution and Consequences. In: Jennifer vanHeerde-Hudson, ed. The Political Costs of the 2009 British MPs’ Expenses Scandal. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014, pp.1-26.
• Harmer E, Savigny H, Siow O. Trump, Clinton, and the Gendering of Newspaper Discourse About the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election Debates. Women's Studies in Communication 2021, 44(1), 81-101.