postgraduate student, University of Kent
Dervla is a master’s student at the University of Kent studying Methods of Social Research after completing her Sociology BA (Hons) degree. Her master’s dissertation explores the construction of ‘abortion stigma’ as a social problem, and how the use and definition of the concept have changed over time. This focus on the topic of abortion continues on from her undergraduate research investigating how women who came of age during the 1960s and 2010s make sense of their abortion attitudes through the lens of generation.
Dervla spoke at the Battle of Ideas 2022 on the panel ‘The future of abortion rights’. She has also volunteered at the Battle of Ideas festival on multiple occasions.
As well as abortion, her main topics of interest are reproductive health, generational attitudes, free speech, and gender. Dervla was part of the winning Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School team as debate captain at the 2019 Debating Matters Kent Championship and has since participated in the 2021 DMGBIN online championship as a chair.