Stephanie Taylor

Stephanie Taylor is a Senior Lecturer in Social Psychology at the Open University. She has researched and written about creativity and creative work for more than a decade, following her interest in identity and gender. She is the author, with Karen Littleton, of 'Contemporary Identities of Creativity and Creative Work' (Ashgate, 2012), based on research projects with people who entered creative careers through their study at London art colleges. Other recent books are 'Gender and Creative Labour', co-edited with Bridget Conor and Rosalind Gill (Wiley-Blackwell, 2015) and 'Theorizing Cultural Work: Labour, Continuity and Change in the Creative Industries', co-edited with Mark Banks and Rosalind Gill (Routledge, 2013). Her current research is with people who work for themselves – for instance, self-employed, freelance or running their own businesses – in creative fields or areas of work which utilise their creativity. In another strand of her research, Dr Taylor has investigated the importance of our connections to place in affluent societies, like the UK, in which it is usual to change residence. This is discussed in her book 'Narratives of Identity and Place' (Routledge, 2010). She has published best-selling textbooks and numerous academic articles. Her research is cited worldwide, in several languages. Dr Taylor studied in New Zealand and UK universities and received her doctorate in 1997. She is a committed teacher, reaching thousands of students through her extensive contributions to Open University distance teaching programmes in psychology, social sciences and research methods, and also leading many successful small-scale workshops for postgraduates in universities in Finland, Switzerland, Ireland, Turkey and the UK.