Dr Maria Tomlinson is a lecturer in public communication and gender in the School of Journalism, Media and Communication.
Her work looks at how health-focussed organisations and activists use social media and engage with journalism to improve the health and wellbeing of minority groups.
Maria's research interests include menstrual health, menopause, and energy-limiting conditions (such as endometriosis and chronic fatigue syndrome/ME).
Her recently published book ​ Reducing Stigma and Tackling Social Inequalities (2025), investigates the impact of menstrual activism and the media on young people's knowledge and perceptions of menstruation. Maria has worked in collaboration with the Department for Education, the British Standards Institution, ºù«Ӱҵ City Council, schools and police forces. Some of the findings from the research have been turned into guidelines for activists and NGOs.
Maria has also worked with , a period equality organisation, on the new which aims to empower school pupils to have a say in how the period products scheme works in their school - ensuring they have the products they need when they need them. That research is the focus of this published this week.
Her work with the British Standards Institution has also led to the development of a new standard around menstruation, menstrual health and menopause in the workplace to accelerate equality in organisations.
In this Q&A Maria talks about her career achievements and what she hopes to achieve in the future with her research:
What are you most proud of in your career to date?
A simple answer would be to say that I am most proud of the two monographs that I have published or the two prizes that I have won for my Knowledge Exchange and Impact work (for which at least 50% of the credit goes to the wonderful people and organisations with whom I have collaborated).
Although I am proud of these achievements, I am proud of most of the fact that I actually have an academic career at all. After completing my PhD in French literature, finding a permanent academic job seemed impossible. For years, as do many early career researchers, I navigated short term contracts. I also transformed myself from a humanities to social sciences scholar.
My fieldwork was very delayed because of the pandemic and I was worried this would ruin my possibilities of securing my next post. I took a short maternity leave whilst on a temporary contract, writing papers whilst breastfeeding or during my son's naps. Once I resumed work, I continued to write whilst breastfeeding, I pumped at work, and I pumped between panels at conferences.
As women academics with children, this is all part of our hidden labour and I think that International Women's Day is the perfect time to shed light on this. Amongst the uncertainty and constant exhaustion, I secured a permanent lectureship. I will always be grateful for the opportunity to conduct research and contribute to social change through working with charities, activists, and teachers.
Your research is already having a positive impact on people's lives, what do you hope to achieve in the future with your work?
I am really excited to continue my collaborations with schools, , , , , , , , and Belszki (the amazing teacher who created a that draws on my research).
I hope these will continue to improve the education that young people receive about menstruation and their access to menstrual products in school. I also hope this knowledge exchange work will continue to benefit the health, wellbeing, and confidence of women and other people who menstruate.
Next, I hope to secure funding to research health communication about energy-limiting conditions (such as ME and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome). I would love for this to lead to knowledge exchange that will benefit people who live with energy-limiting conditions.
What would your advice be to young female academics starting out in their careers now?
As academic careers are characterised by uncertainty, I would advise young female academics to find close friends (such as during their PhD) with whom they can navigate the ups and downs of academia. This can include meeting up for drinks, sending messages, organising conferences, and co-authoring publications.
I am still close friends with Polly Galis and Antonia Wimbush who I met at the beginning of my PhD and I'm not sure I would have survived this far without them. This friendship resulted in books, articles, a conference, and more importantly, a vital support network for us all.
I would also encourage any young woman in academia to pursue research about which she is passionate. If you have a strong purpose and an ambition to improve the world, it helps you to have the determination that's needed to keep going.