Dr Jessica C. Smith BSc, MRes, PhD
Lecturer in Politics, Athena SWAN Representative

Jessica Smith is a Lecturer in Politics within the Department of Politics and International Relations.
Jessica joined the University of Southampton in 2019 after completing her PhD on ‘Gendering Political Leadership: A Case Study of the UK, Examining Media and Voter Perceptions’ at Birkbeck College, University of London. Prior to joining the University she held temporary lectureships in Politics at Queen Mary University and Birkbeck College, University of London
Her research centres on gender, electoral politics, and political leadership with a focus on British politics. She has also worked with colleagues at the University of Manchester on the British Election Study and on research on electoral registration. In 2018, she was a Research Assistant on Fawcett Society’s Strategies for Success report on women’s experiences of selection and election in the UK Parliament.
Jessica was on the Steering Committee for the Centre for British Politics and Public Life at Birkbeck (2017- 19) and served as Communications Officer for the Political Studies Association Early Career Network (2016-18).
Academic qualifications:
PhD Politics (Birkbeck College, University of London)
MRes (Birkbeck College, University of London)
BSc (University of Bristol)
Office hours:
Mondays 11am-12pm
Thursdays 3pm-4pm