CMWR colloquium: female reservists
Reservists are under-represented in research about the Armed Forces community. The Centre for Military Women’s Research decided to explore reservist experiences in their latest colloquium, held on 9 January 2025, and identify future research priorities with this community. The Centre Director, Dr Lauren Godier, opened the day setting out the need for action based on the research gaps.
Abigail Adams, a Research Fellow also from the CMWR team, talked about what the research team had learnt from their Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) groups on the subject of current and ex-reservist women. This visual representation captures the themes identified.
Next up was Col Leona Barr-Jones, Chief Executive of East Anglia Reserve Forces’ and Cadets’ Association (RFCA). She talked us through the history of women in the Armed Forces and how the reservist story intersected with this. Leona reflected on some of her own experiences, considering some of the different challenges encountered by reservist women compared to their regular counterparts and how to foster a sense of inclusion, respect and belonging.
Finally, we heard from Elisa Thomas, a reservist Warrant Officer currently on maternity leave, who delivered an insightful talk on the theme of maternity, fertility and motherhood.
The colloquium closed with a workshop exploring the priorities for future research. This saw us each identify three priority areas and then work in teams to prioritise as a group. This will be used to shape our future research plans.
We are very grateful to those, representing the Office for Veterans Affairs, the Royal British Legion, the Female Veterans Transformation Programme, Kings College London and our own Advisory group, who gave up their time to contribute to this important conversation. Thank you also goes to our three amazing speakers who gave use such a fantastic insight into women in the Reserves and really helped us to start mapping new research agendas.
