About the Researcher

My name is Alex, and I’m a 2nd Year PhD Candidate based at the University of Edinburgh, and currently living in the North of England. I’ve been in higher education pretty much non-stop for 8 years now, and had quite a varied journey. I began my university career studying English Literature, before going on to complete a MA in Counselling. It was here that I first came across the area of women and gambling, focusing my MA thesis on Women, Gambling and the Psychodynamic Approach. I knew this was an area I wanted to explore, but this time by actually hearing from women who participate in some form of gambling – and this led me to my PhD at Edinburgh!

I am so passionate about being a feminist researcher, and placing the voice of women at the heart of my work. Research into women and gambling, including bingo, is scarce; there is little research in the UK solely focusing on why women play bingo, and what their experience is like. I hope that by focusing my research on women who have experience of bingo, I can add their voices to the literature, research and discussions on the topic, making sure women are included in the conversation.

In my spare time, you’ll find me drinking a lot of coffee, reading thrillers (ideally in the sun – which, admittedly, living between the north of England and Scotland is hard to come by!) and participating in pub quizzes with my partner and friends!