MPhil/PhD Gender

For details of the application process and to submit your application online visit the graduate study pages.

If you are hoping to make a funding application to the London Arts and Humanities Partnership (LAHP) studentship (deadline end of January 2025) you will need to submit your application for a place on our MPhil/PhD programme in good time, and ideally by 9 December 2024. 

The final deadline for the application including all supporting documentation, such as references and transcripts, is 15 January 2025.

Read our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on applying for a PhD in the department for further guidance.

For 2025 entry to the PhD programme, the department particularly welcomes applications from candidates seeking to work in the following areas of the interdisciplinary Gender Studies:

• Feminist Methodologies in the social sciences (including economics, development studies, population studies, sociology, and social policy)
• Gender and Affect and/or psychoanalytic approaches (to gender, culture and politics)
• Gender and Culture (including film, media, digital and popular culture, and/or the arts)
• Gender and Imperialism
• Gender and Narrative in literature and/or culture
• Gender and Reproductive Justice
• Transnational, decolonial and postcolonial politics of rights, human rights and justice
• Transnational Sexual Culture and Representation

The department anticipates proposals attending to questions of complex inequality, and particularly welcomes approaches investigating overlaps across or intersections among forms of power.

The minimum entry requirement for this programme is a high merit (68 per cent) in a taught master’s degree in a related discipline and normally a distinction in the dissertation.

The English language requirement for this programme is Research. Read more about our English language requirements.

Competition for places at LSE is strong. So, even if you meet the minimum entry requirements, this does not guarantee you an offer of a place.

However, please don’t feel deterred from applying – we want to hear from all suitably qualified students. Think carefully about how you can put together the strongest possible application to help you stand out from other students.

All students have a main supervisor and an advisor (or joint supervision in rare cases). The supervisor is the main point of contact for the student during their studies, with whom they meet regularly. Students use online PhD logs to provide a record of meetings and to check common understanding of agreed actions on both sides. In addition to the First Year Upgrade process, students have formal reviews in the second and third years. Though some students will be supervised entirely from within LSE Gender, we occasionally draw on the research specialisms of staff in other parts of the LSE, so the supervisor may be a member of the Department of Gender Studies or of another LSE Department. In all cases, students will be drawn into the research community of the Department, joining with the other research students in the first year taught courses, working together with second and third year students in the PhD research seminar GI500, and participating in our regular seminar series. We hope students will also be able to share interests and knowledge with our Research Fellows, particularly when their areas of research overlap.

Courses taken

Students audit the lectures of course 'GI424 Gender Theories: an interdisciplinary approach', which provides a critical understanding of the field, and provides the basis for the development of appropriate interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks. Students play an active part in the course 'GI402 Gender: Knowledge and Research Practice' and participate in seminars. The course provides training in research design with a particular focus on research ethics. Students take GI500, the Doctoral Workshop, a fortnightly research seminar run by the Director of the Doctoral Programme (DPD) with input from faculty members throughout their studies in years 1-3. The workshop is based on student work in progress, and builds professional skills through the integration of ‘paper respondents’. Spring Term workshops are focused on professional training such as writing job applications, CVs, publication and conference guidance and marking training.

Students choose from the full range of Gender courses to audit in discussion with their supervisory team to enhance their own methods bundle. Where appropriate to their topic, students choose courses in the Department of Methodology such as 'Foundations in Social Research', 'Advanced social Research Methods' and 'Drafting a PhD', which provide a range of key skills necessary to writing a PhD.

Students who are supervised by staff outside LSE Gender may discover that the procedure and requirements for upgrade vary slightly between departments. Please note that as a student of LSE Gender, you will come within our regulations, even if your main supervisor is based elsewhere. Having successfully upgraded from MPhil to PhD, you will then be reviewed annually to ensure that your work is progressing satisfactory.

Completion

Students are normally expected to complete their PhD thesis within three or four of registration (maximum four years). Part-time students must complete by their eighth year of registration - a deadline which also applies to students who have studied a mixture of full and part time.

Requirements for a PhD

LSE PhDs are examined under LSE regulations. These regulations specify the criteria for a PhD.

You will be guided by your supervisor to ensure that your work is compatible with the criteria for a PhD. It is still useful however to read these regulations as you embark on your PhD and subsequently from time to time to ensure your work remains on track.

The DPD has final responsibility for the MPhil/PhD programme. This means they are responsible for admissions, the allocation of supervisors, overseeing the upgrade from MPhil to PhD, monitoring ongoing progress, and arranging the final submission. They also arbitrate in cases of difficulties with supervisors, or problems with general training.

We welcome applications for research programmes that complement the academic interests of our staff at LSE. For this reason, we recommend that you take a look at our staff research interests before applying.

We carefully consider each application and take into account all the information included on your form, such as your:

• academic achievement (including existing and pending qualifications)
• statement of academic purpose
• references
• CV
• outline research proposal
• sample of written work.

See further information on supporting documents.

You may need to provide evidence of your English language proficiency. See our English language requirements.

Please note that LSE allows part-time PhD study only under limited circumstances. If you wish to study part-time, you should mention this (and the reasons for it) in your statement of academic purpose, and discuss it at interview if you're shortlisted.

Read our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for more application advice. 

The Department of Gender Studies was established in 1993 as a multi-disciplinary research centre. The Department serves as a focus for gender research across LSE, and works to promote a close relationship between policy makers and the academy. The Department provides a vibrant research culture with resident Research Fellows, visiting scholars, public lectures and conferences, and a regular programme of research seminars. Our thriving research community very much includes our doctoral students.

Our key research areas are:

• Cultural production, practices and representation  
• Care, labour and political economy 
• Social movements, rights and justice 
• Security, conflict and peace
• Theory, methodology and ethics

For more information about faculty research, please see our dedicated Research page.

Recent graduates from the Department’s PhD programme are pursuing academic careers, postdoctoral fellowships, senior consultancy roles, and government jobs in the UK and overseas. 

For specific placement information, please see our PhDs Awarded page.