Alice Sullivan | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Professor |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford[1][2] Nuffield College, Oxford[3] |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Sociology |
| Institutions | University College London |
Alice Sullivan is a British sociologist and Professor of Sociology at University College London.[4][5][6]
Career
[edit]Sullivan co-edited Sex and Gender: A Contemporary Reader with Selina Todd in 2023.[7] She was featured in the 2025 John Maddox Prize shortlist[8][9] and is a fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.[10]
Sullivan has written that the conflation of gender and sex in the 2021 United Kingdom census was a harmful product of what she describes as an "explicitly anti-scientific" "postmodernist project".[11][6] She was commissioned by Conservative politician Michelle Donelan to publish a study that became known as the Sullivan Review, which investigated the ways in which sex is catalogued in public research. The study was published by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology in 2025,[9][5] but has been criticised by some due to her relationship with the gender critical group Sex Matters.[12] In December 2025 Sullivan threatened to sue the University of Bristol after a talk presenting the Sullivan Review was disrupted by protesters.[13][14]
Works
[edit]- Sex and Gender: A Contemporary Reader, co-edited with Selina Todd (London: Routledge, 2023) ISBN 978-1032261195
- Sullivan, A. (2001). Cultural capital and educational attainment. Sociology, 35(4), 893-912.
References
[edit]- ^ Woods, Judith (30 March 2025). "Prof Alice Sullivan: It's uncomfortable for a Leftie like me but Trump is right on trans issues". The Daily Telegraph.
- ^ "1990s - Professor Alice Sullivan". Floreast Domus 2024 - Supplement - News and Notes. Balliol College: 22. 2024.
- ^ "Alice Sullivan". University College London. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
- ^ "Transgender patients 'not called to NHS screenings' due to failure to record sex". The Independent. 19 March 2025. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
- ^ a b Walker, Peter (20 March 2025). "UK data recording of biological sex causing potential risks, report finds". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
- ^ a b Fugard, Andi (2 September 2020). "Should trans people be postmodernist in the streets but positivist in the spreadsheets? A reply to Sullivan". International Journal of Social Research Methodology. 23 (5): 525–531. doi:10.1080/13645579.2020.1768343. ISSN 1364-5579.
- ^ Lucinda Platt. "Sex and Gender: A Contemporary Reader – review" (PDF). London School of Economics.
- ^ valentina (30 September 2025). "2025 Maddox Prize shortlist reveals science under attack around the world - Sense about Science". Retrieved 28 October 2025.
- ^ a b "Sullivan Review author shortlisted for Maddox Prize". Times Higher Education (THE). 30 September 2025. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
- ^ UCL (16 September 2025). "UCL academics elected as Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences". UCL News. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
- ^ Hines, Sally (2 September 2020). "Counting the cost of difference: a reply to Sullivan". International Journal of Social Research Methodology. 23 (5): 533–538. doi:10.1080/13645579.2020.1768344. ISSN 1364-5579.
- ^ Hansford, Amelia (21 March 2025). "Government asked to reject 'biased' Sullivan Review by 'gender-critical' academic". PinkNews. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
- ^ Jeffreys, Bronwen (22 December 2025). "University threatened with legal action after protest at academic's talk". BBC News. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
- ^ Rawlinson, Kevin (22 December 2025). "Academic 'prepared to take legal action' after gender lecture disrupted at Bristol University". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 December 2025.