Meryl Kenny
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merylkenny.bsky.social
Meryl Kenny
@merylkenny.bsky.social
Head of Politics & IR at University of Edinburgh | FIIN Co-Director @fiin.bsky.social | gender & politics, political parties, parliaments, territorial politics, political representation
Reposted by Meryl Kenny
"How is the dispute at Dundee University affecting students?"
How is the dispute at Dundee University affecting students?
Students say they are feeling the effects across studios, classrooms and workshops.
bbc.in
November 14, 2025 at 7:15 AM
Really thought the answer to this was going to be patriarchy

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Tired all the time? There may be a simple reason for that
Levels of fatigue among women in Britain are soaring, and this isn’t the kind that can be cured by a nap. What lies behind the exhaustion epidemic?
www.theguardian.com
November 2, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Reposted by Meryl Kenny
It’s here! Gendering Party Politics published with Oxford University Press & available in all good bookshops in hardcover & paperback.

Edited by @merylkenny.bsky.social and @elinbja.bsky.social

academic.oup.com/book/61464
Gendering Party Politics: Feminist Institutionalist Perspectives
Abstract. Gendering Party Politics explores the relationship between gender and political parties through a feminist institutionalist lens. Across 17 chapt
academic.oup.com
October 27, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Reposted by Meryl Kenny
Interesting piece “From my experience of universities, one of the most important elements of that is the culture around the senior management table, which is not the governing body,” he said. “You cannot have…an overbearing culture where essentially the executive is run in a hierarchical system.”
October 24, 2025 at 8:38 AM
‘We know how much you value the academic and professional staff who teach and support you across the University, and that you may be concerned when some staff choose to leave the University voluntarily…’
UCU slams Edinburgh University claims that cuts won't impact student experience
A university email sent to students claimed the cuts will not diminish the student experience
thetab.com
October 24, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Reposted by Meryl Kenny
Huh. If you say you’ll mess with indefinite leave to remain rules it turns out talented migrant workers start looking at their other options. This could never have been predicted!
on.ft.com/3JiZxbM
Russian tech workers rethink UK ties after settlement rules change
Digital entrepreneurs turn to US in search of higher pay and opportunities in test of Labour plan to lure ‘global talent’
on.ft.com
October 20, 2025 at 7:01 AM
Reposted by Meryl Kenny
In less jest - yes, it's good if universities can help students develop skills for the labour market. However, the pointless venom of the current government about one of the few world class sectors in the British economy is tiring, enervating and just plain sad. Get a grip lads.
September 19, 2025 at 10:28 AM
Reposted by Meryl Kenny
An actual quote from the Secretary of State for Business and Trade

Too often people go to university to ‘explore research and knowledge’

Look forward to Wes S saying 'too often people go to hospital to have operations' or Heidi Alexander saying 'too often people go to the station to catch a train'
September 19, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Reposted by Meryl Kenny
As staff at Edinburgh Uni strike over job cuts, the principal is under pressure to reveal whether he’s being paid for a second job at a company with historic ties to the university.

Our latest: theferret.scot/mathi...
Edinburgh uni boss pressured over outside earnings as job losses mount
The boss of the University of Edinburgh is facing calls to “come clean” over earnings from a second job, amid staff strikes and mounting redundancies.
theferret.scot
September 12, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Reposted by Meryl Kenny
*NEW PSA BLOG* A hard-hitting report by @britishacademy.bsky.social illuminates how large areas of the UK are/becoming cold spots for #HE degrees in #SocialSciences & #humanities. PSA CEO @seasonedcomms.bsky.social highlights the issues and impact
New British Academy report shows degree course cold spots across the UK | The Political Studies Association (PSA)
Our friends at the British Academy (BA) have produced a hard-hitting new report which shows that financial difficulties or strategic choices in our universities have led to large swathes of the UK…
buff.ly
September 12, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Reposted by Meryl Kenny
Unfunded research is by definition, free. It’s the funded research, that never fully covers costs and requires massive cross-subsidy, which is a major contributor to the HE funding crisis.
September 12, 2025 at 8:17 AM
Reposted by Meryl Kenny
Again, UUK show a total failure of their role.
Their lack of vision, and inability to show responsibility & leadership means they are yet again punching down on overworked, underfunded academics, rather than lobbying Govt for proper HE funding models.
Let's shift away from low quality UUK members.
September 12, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Reposted by Meryl Kenny
We've got a chunky @britishacademy.bsky.social report out looking at the emergence of 'cold spots' where you can't study arts, humanities or social science subjects close to home. We call for an urgent review of HE funding & monitoring of at risk subjects
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/news/univers...
University course closures leave students unable to study many SHAPE subjects close to home - report
A new report shows that students are shut out of SHAPE education in their home regions, as large swathes of the UK are ‘cold spots’ for humanities, social sciences and arts degrees.
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk
September 10, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Reposted by Meryl Kenny
Governor announces New Mexico will now provide free universal child care
Governor announces New Mexico will now provide free universal child care
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – New Mexico is becoming the first state in the U.S. to offer free early childhood education to every family in the state. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced a universal ch…
www.krqe.com
September 9, 2025 at 4:29 AM
Reposted by Meryl Kenny
I need people to also understand that faculty have been harassed like this - specifically with staged protests and secret recordings- for decades

The ESCALATION (and this matters!) is the president so pathetically caving and firing the dean and department head
If you click through to the video, you’ll hear a young woman repeatedly telling a college professor that President Trump has declared that what the Professor had been teaching is illegal and she’ll be meeting with the head of the university about it.

It’s chilling and scary.
September 9, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Reposted by Meryl Kenny
Here's something a bit different. We've been reporting from Edinburgh to try to get to the bottom of a mystery in London. Princes Street is the Scottish capital's most famous shopping street — and it's gaining the *exact same* tatty gift shops as London. www.londoncentric.media/p/edinburgh-...
The Edinburgh connection to London's tax-evading gift shops
Plus: A chat with the Transport for London boss running the tube strike negotiations — and how the "hardworking businessman" putting up flags in south London tried to scam an insurer.
www.londoncentric.media
September 6, 2025 at 6:59 AM
Reposted by Meryl Kenny
The takeaway:

👉 Accommodating the radical right on immigration doesn’t win back voters.
👉 It alienates the progressive base.
👉 And it raises the salience of the very issue the radical right owns.
In short: it’s electoral self-harm.
September 5, 2025 at 6:50 AM
Reposted by Meryl Kenny
I have finally gotten round to writing my AI Use Statement for a grad. course I'm teaching in Gen AI...

I would be grateful of your thoughts!
September 3, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Reposted by Meryl Kenny
📝 Don't miss this #openaccess article from the current issue of #BJPIR - Volume 27, Issue 3 (August 2025)

'Experiencing the executive: Gender, ministers and institutions in Scotland ' by Alan Convery & Meryl Kenny.

🔗: buff.ly/IDGFiBM

@polstudiesassoc.bsky.social
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
buff.ly
August 29, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Reposted by Meryl Kenny
Sitting on my porch, writing, and the elementary school just let out, because the kids are starting to walk by on their way home. I cried when I saw the first kid. Kept crying when the second one walked past my house. They’re safe. Alive. Maybe oblivious.

This country needs a hard reset.
August 27, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Reposted by Meryl Kenny
Frey: And don't just say, this is about thoughts and prayers right now. These kids were literally praying. It was the first week of school. They were in a church.
August 27, 2025 at 3:59 PM
My dad died last week, and he was - by any objective measure - the very best. You can read about him here: obituaries.startribune.com/obituary/wil...
Will Kenny Obituary | Minnesota Star Tribune
View Will Kenny's complete obituary, share memories, and explore 2 tribute posts from the community.
obituaries.startribune.com
August 26, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Reposted by Meryl Kenny
📣 Out on #FirstView 📣

For our upcoming special issue on feminist foreign policy, @tonihaastrup.bsky.social, in her piece "Contending with the Coloniality of Feminist Foreign Policy," explores the absence of African knowledge from FFP agendas.

gendersky polisky

buff.ly/BPtbILd
August 26, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Reposted by Meryl Kenny
August 25, 2025 at 6:25 AM
Reposted by Meryl Kenny
“Universities educate students, but they are also incubators of new knowledge and discovery. ... For example, by supporting areas of research that might not be economically “efficient” but which will be required for our future.”

theconversation.com/universities...
Universities have lost their way, but cost-cutting and consultants are not the answer
Last week in Sydney, we saw a melodrama acted out that could stand in for the state of Australian universities more generally.
theconversation.com
August 25, 2025 at 9:12 PM