Poppy Gerrard-Abbott (University of Edinburgh)

Research Fellow, School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh

Election address

As the UCU Edinburgh Women's Representative and a member of the UK UCU Women's Committee, I come to the National Executive Committee (NEC) elections from a standpoint of platforming feminist concerns—particularly the urgent need to address violence against women and girls (VAWG) in workplaces and post-16 education. 

My doctoral research examines gender-based violence (GBV) in UK universities. I co-authored the Scottish Government-funded GBV Charter for Universities and Colleges, a framework of minimum standards and best practice for GBV prevention, intervention, and support across Scottish and English FE and HE. I am running Scotland's first national GBV prevalence study, producing data on previously unexamined forms of abuse in universities and colleges. 

Throughout my career, I have worked at the intersection of industry, the third sector, and academia. Since my undergraduate years, I have been employed in frontline services relating to poverty, mental health, and housing, while continuously studying sexual violence within education. Most recently, I was an Informatics Research Fellow for Equally Safe Online (ESO), an interdisciplinary computer science project with Heriot-Watt University combatting online abuse on social media, working with partners such as Ofcom. As a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA), I am accustomed to working across seniority levels—from strategic decision-making to the practical realities of policy implementation. My experience includes serving on the Board of a VAWG organisation, working within the policy and research team at Scotland's GBV-in-education charity EmilyTest, and acting as a UCU caseworker. 

Ongoing projects I am particularly passionate about include evaluating GBV-related student services, developing sector guidance for handling GBV investigations in universities, and contributing to an Office for Independent Adjudicator (OIA) HE steering group. 

My ambitions for the NEC centre on strengthening data-driven, evidence-based campaigning (including against cuts) and ensuring that the rights and needs of the most vulnerable workers are embedded in our strategising. For example, I recently wrote to senior management and sector regulators regarding the proper use of equality impact assessments within restructuring processes. Across my work, I advocate for intersectionality and holistic systems thinking—recognising gendered impacts, resisting marketisation, and fostering collaboration across government, third-sector partners, and grassroots movements. 

I stand as an independent candidate, unaffiliated with any internal UCU political grouping. Based on my observations as an independent in these spaces, I support Suzi Toole and Mark Pendleton as the strongest candidates for Vice-President to help deliver the priorities outlined in this statement. 

I am an active, present, and engaged campaigner, consistently striving for full attendance at union meetings. I recently travelled to the annual UCU Women's Conference to co-host a session on international perspectives on VAWG and the rise of the far right—reflecting my dedication to both local and global feminist solidarity.