Professor Gemma Catney was conferred to the Fellowship of the Academy in autumn 2024. She is Professor of Human Geography at Queen’s University Belfast, and her research interests lie in ethnic residential segregation and diversity, ethnic inequalities, and internal migration.
Professor Gemma CatneyFAcSS
A population and social geographer, Gemma is the Principal Investigator of Geographies of Ethnic Diversity and Inequalities (GEDI), funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), which uses census data to examine, analyse and explain the UK’s changing ethnic geographies.
Gemma has published widely in leading international journals including Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, Urban Studies, and Population, Space and Place. Her research has attracted funding from the Leverhulme Trust, ESRC, British Academy, Nuffield Foundation, and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Gemma’s research has been used as evidence in government reviews, cited in numerous policy reports, and is regularly featured in the national (The Guardian, BBC, The Economist) and local media – on TV, radio, and in print. She works closely with policymakers and analysts in central and local government and third sector organisations in improving understandings of ethnic and racial inequalities and population change.
Gemma is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society with IBG and was the recipient of their prestigious Gill Memorial Award in 2019, and she’s also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Gemma is a member of the Office for National Statistics Ethnic Group and Religious Assurance Panel, and of the ESRC Peer Review College. She also serves on the Editorial Boards of The Geographical Journal and Population, Space and Place.
Why do the social sciences matter?
Social scientists are uniquely well positioned to address our most significant societal challenges, from the global to the local. Social sciences research not only advances scholarly debate on the most pressing issues of our time, but also shapes the work and priorities of policymakers and practitioners, and informs public understandings of social, demographic, economic and political change.
What do you enjoy most about your work?
I feel privileged to have the opportunity to collaborate with so many talented and inspiring social scientists – at all career stages – who care deeply about evidencing, understanding and tackling ethnic and racial inequalities and injustice. I love the scholarly pursuit of exploring the changing geographies of ethnic diversity and inequalities (mainly in the UK context), but I also seek to ensure that my research does not stay within an academic bubble. I have been fortunate to work closely with analysts and policymakers in central and local government and the third sector in providing critical data-driven evidence on population and societal change at the national and local level.
What is the most urgent issue social scientists need to tackle today and within the next three years?
We live in an increasingly complex and unequal world, where misinformation and disinformation stoke divisions and perpetuate social inequalities. Social scientists have the opportunity to inform and challenge public, policy and political discourse about societal change, and to evidence and expose the disturbingly persistent social and economic inequalities experienced between individuals, groups, communities, and neighbourhoods. The careful and critical insights provided by social scientists are essential in working towards more fair, just, equal and inclusive societies, and to improve the lives and experiences of disadvantaged and minoritised groups.
What does being a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences mean to you?
It is an honour to be conferred as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and to join this prestigious community of internationally leading scholars and practitioners. I will use this opportunity to promote and enhance the crucial role of the social sciences, particularly through my research on ethnic and racial population change and inequalities.