Dr Yvonne Ehrstein MA, PhD, PGCAP, FHEA

I am a sociologist specialising in the sociologies of gender, work and the digital. I gained my PhD in Sociology from City, University of London where I also taught for five years as a Visiting Lecturer and was part of the Gender and Sexualities Research Centre’s Organising Committee. Prior to joining Aberystwyth University in 2023, I taught at the University of Essex on their Sociology programme. Preceding this and the PhD, I completed an MA (Dist) in Sociology and worked in several capacities at the interdisciplinary gender research centre at the University of Frankfurt. 

My doctoral research explored discourses of equality, work and care on and beyond Britain’s largest parenting website Mumsnet.com. As a feminist sociologist, all my work is animated by questions about inequalities and power relations. As such, my research is underpinned by an intersectional approach that recognises people’s experiences of work and parenting are shaped by intersecting cultural and structural inequalities. 

In my current research, I explore what the ‘digital turn’ means in particular for mothers and people with caring responsibilities. I also continue to be interested in exploring the social and emotional implications of communicative practices in techno-social environments, and their embedding in a shifting feminist landscape. 

I am passionate about teaching. Reflecting my commitment to inclusive teaching and learning as well as nurturing student support, I gained a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice and became a Fellow of the Higher Academy in 2020. 

My broader research interests centre around: 

• Social, cultural and (post)feminist theory
• Inequality and discrimination 
• The neoliberalisation of culture 
• Feminisms 
• (Gender) Politics of networked social media 
• Conceptualisations of care and work-life balance 
• Digital and innovative social research methods incl. digital ethnography 
• Discursive, psychosocial methods that encompass affect  

DGES service: 

• DGES Dissertations and Projects Co-ordinator (Sociology) 
• DGES Recruitment Committee member 

University service: 

• Interdisciplinary Gender Studies Research Group (IGSRG -AberGender) Co-convenor
• Women in Research Network (WiRN) Organising Committee member

Disciplinary service: 

• Board Member, European Sociological Association, Research Network Women's and Gender Studies
• Associate Member of the Cornelia Goethe Center for Gender Studies, Goethe University Frankfurt