Societal perceptions of social inequalities and health
How journalists, activists, and civil society organisations communicate with the public about gender and feminism via factual news media and social media.
Dr Maria Tomlinson researches the impact of health communication on social inequalities. Over the last twelve years, her work has focused on menstrual health and menopause.
Drawing on her research findings from The Menstrual Movement in the Media: Reducing Stigma and Tackling Social Inequalities (2025), she collaborates with organisations to improve menstrual equity in workplaces, schools, and communities. This has included collaborating with Irise International on their UK Schools Toilet Policy Toolkit, which draws on her findings about pupils' access to period products during their exams.
Maria and Belszki, a primary school teacher and feminist theatre maker, co-created a menstrual health curriculum for primary schools that is based on Maria's research with teenagers. As part of Irise UK's Period Confident Schools Programme, 12 additional schools are piloting this curriculum. Maria chaired the committee which developed the groundbreaking British Standard, 'BS 30416: Menstruation, Menstrual Health and Menopause in the Workplace', which has been used in 3218 organisations worldwide.
Furthermore, Maria collaborated with Cysters, Diversecity Development Trust, The Menstrual Health Project, and Irise to develop faith-informed menstrual health resources for Muslim and Sikh women. These resources were created in consultation with Muslim and Sikh communities. They now feature on the MeNOW Health app, which supports women across North Africa and the Arab World with perimenopause.
Maria is an executive member of the Gender Research Network in the Faculty of Social Sciences. She delivers talks and training sessions across the university about her knowledge exchange work. This includes guidance on how to measure research impact and how to conduct KE in an ethical, accessible, and effective way.
Maria has spoken about her KE in two videos that were produced by the University of Sheffield: 'The Menstrual Movement in the Media' and 'Ethical Knowledge Exchange with Minority Groups'.