Naomi Carter has just graduated from a Global Sustainable Development degree at the University of Warwick. While at university she was also the Students’ Union Women’s Officer and she has recently become the new VP Welfare & Campaigns at Warwick. She published a paper with us on Volume 17 Issue 1 titled "Period Pain: Student Perceptions of the Ongoing Stigma Surrounding Menstruation at the University of Warwick and Potential Interventions to Counter Such Stigma". We asked her a few questions about her research journey with this paper and the challenges she faced along the way.

September 2024, Inés Robledo - Marketing Coordinator

Tell me a bit about how your research came about, how did it start and what made you write a paper about this topic?

I began researching menstrual stigma and pain as part of a second-year Global Sustainable Development module about inequality. I have always been concerned by how gender inequalities manifest at university and, in my role as Students’ Union Women’s Officer, had been leading a campaign to tackle period poverty on campus. Historically, academic research has neglected both the experience of menstruation and the specific lived experiences of students, and so this module gave me a chance to counteract that. Through writing a paper, I could further the academic knowledge and use the research as a tool to enrich the campaign for menstrual equity on campus.

What challenges did you face?

I faced an interesting challenge when establishing a literature base for the project and seeing how my research could fit into the current landscape. Although there is a lack of existing research into university students’ experiences of menstruation, there is a growing body of work into ‘critical menstrual studies’. This covers a broad variety of subjects including sexual reproductive health education, the history of menstrual stigma, the experiences of trans menstruators and gender minorities, and more. I find that so interesting that it was hard to balance the desire to deep dive this entire new area of research, and remain focused on my specific research questions and context!

Do you see value in publishing undergraduate research?

Often, valuable undergraduate research gets dismissed or forgotten about within a world of tight deadlines and marketized, overcrowded educational courses. I found it very encouraging and affirming to realise that I could do a piece of research about something I feel passionate about and then be able to share that more widely, beyond just my tutor or course mates. Publishing undergraduate research means that new students can access opportunities to understand the world of academia in more depth, and provides a platform for innovative work to be seen and valued.

What made you decide to submit your work to the journal?

I think this was the first piece of research that I did during my degree that I felt so genuinely passionate about, I didn’t want to let it go after submission. Because of my role as Women’s Officer, and the work I was doing to persuade the SU and University to fund free period product provision on campus, I was able to see first hand how research like this can make a real persuasive case for campus-based activism. I also feel passionately that experiences of pain, discomfort or stigma, especially when faced by gender minorities, should be discussed and made more visible as the first step to mitigating and improving these experiences.

What do you think about the interdisciplinary and/or international element of Reinvention? Did you take it into account when preparing to publish your work?

I find it really encouraging that Reinvention is an international journal, because its very easy for the same universities to reproduce the same kind of knowledge in the same way, unless they open themselves out to other institutions and students. I also love the interdisciplinary angle, as GSD is an inherently interdisciplinary course, so incorporating multiple perspectives is foundational to most of my assignments. Because menstruation is a topic that needs perspectives from sociology, human rights, biology, history and more, I didn’t have to change anything about my approach, but was encouraged by having a space like Reinvention that allows for/encourages a more holistic discussion.

How did you find the process to publication?

I decided to submit for publication just as I went for my year abroad, and found it systematic and simple, if a little lengthy (I’m sure this is reflective of the real world of academic publishing!). Getting reviewer comments was really helpful, as they were constructive and provided perspectives on my research that I hadn’t necessarily considered.

Any advice for future researchers that are thinking of publishing their undergraduate research?

I would really encourage it, especially for pieces of work that you have a passion for, and want to develop further in academia or beyond. Although published articles aren’t the only way to make a case for change, they can be a really useful tool in pushing both the research field, and wider society, to consider intersecting and marginalised experiences in academia and practice.

Interested in publishing your research with Reinvention? Find out more at Reinvention: an International Journal of Undergraduate Research (reinventionjournal.org)or get in touch via reinventionjournal@warwick.ac.uk