Professors Esther Dermott and Misa Izahura of Bristol’s School for Policy Studies were selected through an independent peer review which recognises their excellence and impact, including their wider contributions to social sciences for public benefit.
The newly elected Fellows are highly accomplished social scientists. Many are making exceptional contributions to tackling current and critical issues facing the UK economy, local communities and places, and beyond. They are drawn from varied backgrounds, disciplines and institutions from across the UK and internationally.
Professor Esther Dermott is an eminent social scientist working on gendered inequalities in familial and household relationships, and transformations in parenting.
She has an international reputation for her studies on contemporary fatherhood, notably the extent to which discourse and practices around ‘good’ fatherhood align, and how positive changes can be supported through policy interventions.
She is currently involved in funded research on Syrian refugee fathers (British Academy); the process of parental separation (Nuffield Foundation); changing familial roles (ESRC); and the sociodigital future of care (ESRC).
Prof Dermott has held a number of leadership roles at Bristol, and has strong international recognition and reputation as are evident in international consultancy, collaborations, and expert roles. She currently holds roles as Editor-in-Chief of Families, Relationships and Societies, and as Founding Editor of the Sociology of Children and Families book series.
She said: "The Academy of Social Sciences includes many fantastic social scientists at a time when these disciplinary insights are more important than ever for understanding and positively transforming our world, so I am honoured to be nominated and accepted as a Fellow."
Misa Izuhara is Professor of Social Policy with the expertise of the analysis of the dynamic interactions between housing (wealth) and intergenerational relations, and their associations with inequalities across the life-course. Her research projects include a number of ESRC-funded grants which have explored the role of housing and asset-based welfare including their significance for family dynamics, retirement possibilities and household decision-making. She is the author of Housing, Care and Inheritance, Housing in Post-Growth Society and editor of Research Agenda for East Asian Social Policy.
She has made significant contributions to the development of the discipline of Social Policy, not only within the national context as an executive member of the Social Policy Association, but also as a member of the East Asian Social Policy Research Network (EASP) in which she was the President from 2016-2018. Misa is also the past Co-Editor of one of the leading international disciplinary journals, Journal of Social Policy from 2014-2018.
Will Hutton FAcSS, President of the Academy of Social Sciences, said: "The Academy of Social Sciences is delighted to welcome the Spring 2022 group of new Fellows to join our ranks - representing an excellent range of highly distinguished social scientists. We look forward to engaging with them in our work."