Alice Sullivan

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Alice Sullivan
Alice Sullivan in the video 'Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee - 21 June 2022'.png
Sullivan on a Scottish Parliament panel in 2022
Occupationprofessor
Academic work
DisciplineSociology
InstitutionsUniversity College London

Alice Sullivan is a British sociologist, currently a professor of sociology at University College London. [1] [2] [3] She edited Sex and Gender: A Contemporary Reader. [4] She was featured in the 2025 John Maddox Prize shortlist. [5] [6] She is a fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. [7] Sullivan has advised for Sex Matters. [8]

Sullivan has written that the conflation of gender and sex in the 2021 United Kingdom census was a harmful product of what she describes as an "explicitly anti-scientific" "postmodernist project". [9] [3] She was comissioned by Conservative politician Michelle Donelan to publish a study that became known as the Sullivan Review, which investigated the ways in which sex is catalogued in public research. The study was published by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology in 2025. [6] [2]

References

  1. "Transgender patients 'not called to NHS screenings' due to failure to record sex". The Independent. 19 March 2025. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  2. 1 2 Walker, Peter (20 March 2025). "UK data recording of biological sex causing potential risks, report finds". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  3. 1 2 Fugard, Andi (2 September 2020). "Should trans people be postmodernist in the streets but positivist in the spreadsheets? A reply to Sullivan". International Journal of Social Research Methodology. 23 (5): 525–531. doi:10.1080/13645579.2020.1768343. ISSN   1364-5579.
  4. Davis, Mary. "A scholarly assessment of queer theory". Morning Star. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  5. valentina (30 September 2025). "2025 Maddox Prize shortlist reveals science under attack around the world - Sense about Science" . Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  6. 1 2 "Sullivan Review author shortlisted for Maddox Prize". Times Higher Education (THE). 30 September 2025. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  7. UCL (16 September 2025). "UCL academics elected as Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences". UCL News. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  8. Hansford, Amelia (21 March 2025). "Government asked to reject 'biased' Sullivan Review by 'gender-critical' academic". PinkNews. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  9. Hines, Sally (2 September 2020). "Counting the cost of difference: a reply to Sullivan". International Journal of Social Research Methodology. 23 (5): 533–538. doi:10.1080/13645579.2020.1768344. ISSN   1364-5579.