Present
Alison Herbert, PhD is a Research Affiliate with the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology, within The Institute for Lifecourse and Society, National University of Ireland, Galway. Alison researches older rural women and is currently writing on the relationship between mid-life rural women and work. Alison also lectures in the area of Communications at the National University of Ireland, Galway.
Publications
Herbert, Alison. (2021). Why older rural women in Ireland want to work: it’s not all about the money. Ageing and Society, 1-23. doi:10.1017/S0144686X21001501
Media
https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40776747.html
Past
Alison’s doctoral thesis (2017) focused on perceptions of ageing amongst mid-life women in rural Ireland, and the relationship between the multiple influences on quality of life:
Herbert, Alison (2017) What are the perspectives on ageing of mid-life women in rural Ireland? PhD, NUI Galway. [Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10379/6312 from April 2018]
Alison has extended research from her doctoral thesis by publishing:
(2018): ‘Social exclusion and inclusion of mid-life women in rural Ireland: exploring social relationships and space’. Journal of Social Studies (https://journals.muni.cz/socialni_studia/index)
Herbert, A. (2020): ‘What Role Does Rural Place Play in the Lives of Mid-Life Women in Sweden and Ireland?’. Societies Journal [http://hdl.handle.net/10379/16294] (doi: 10.3390/soc10040084)
Media
https://www.rte.ie/eile/brainstorm/2018/0516/963907-is-active-ageing-really-what-older-people-want/
https://www.rte.ie/eile/brainstorm/2018/0323/949523-who-knows-where-the-time-goes/
https://www.rte.ie/eile/brainstorm/2018/0306/945410-how-empowered-do-some-irish-women-feel-today/
https://www.rte.ie/eile/brainstorm/2018/0207/938908-do-we-need-celebrity-role-models/
In 2018 Alison collaborated with Professor Clary Krekula at the University of Karlstad, Sweden through COST Action 1409 exploring research on the gendered nature of work and temporality.
Funded by the Royal Irish Academy, Alison returned to Sweden in 2019 to carry out empirical research on the relationship between rural place and the ageing of mid-life women.
Prior to embarking on her doctoral studies Alison worked in public relations and journalism for 20 years. Alison also taught Business Studies at second level for ten years.
Future
In 2020 the Royal Irish Academy further funded Alison to carry out additional empirical research on the relationship between remote rural island communities in Scotland and the ageing of mid-life women. Alison is currently writing an academic journal article of this study.
