Congratulations to the winner of the 2022 BPS Presidents’ Award
Victoria Clarke has been confirmed as the recipient of this award, which recognises the achievement of an individual engaged in psychological research of the highest standard.
16 January 2023
Victoria is an Associate Professor in Qualitative and Critical Psychology at the University of the West of England, researching the intersecting areas of gender and sexuality, family and relationships, and appearance and embodiment.
Her thesis research on the social construction of lesbian and gay parenting coincided with the founding of the Lesbian and Gay Psychology Section of the BPS (now named the Psychology of Sexualities Section), and her early career work was in the rapidly growing field of LGBTQ+ psychology.
The focus of Victoria’s work shifted to qualitative methodology after a paper she wrote with Virginia Braun, outlining a new approach to thematic analysis, became widely cited and influential in psychology.
Victoria’s latest research is focused on physical disability in relation to sexuality, relationships and clothing, and body, prompted by her own experience of Multiple Sclerosis.
On receiving this award, Victoria said:
“I am delighted to receive this recognition of my work. I’m grateful to everyone involved in the nomination process, particularly Professor Lindsay O’Dell.
As a qualitative psychologist, it is particularly gratifying to receive recognition from the BPS, as a core part of my work has been promoting and developing qualitative research methods.
For the last two decades, my main focus has been developing a thematic analysis method with my friend and colleague Professor Virginia Braun from The University of Auckland, as well as writing, teaching and communicating about qualitative research methods more broadly.
Our mission is to demystify qualitative research, to make it accessible, and to support students and researchers in doing high quality qualitative research, and this award is a real validation for the work we have put in.”
BPS President Nicky Hayes said:
“Victoria Clarke has consistently carried out research of outstanding quality in the context of gender issues.
She has also become internationally renowned for her work on qualitative research, and in particular as the co-author of a landmark paper clarifying thematic analysis, which continues to be widely cited both within and outside the discipline of psychology.
I consider that she has made an outstanding contribution to psychology, and for this reason I regard her as a most worthy recipient of this award.”