Dr Carrie Purcell

I am a Research Fellow in the Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies, based at the Open University in Scotland. My background is in medical sociology and qualitative research methods.  

Research Interests 

My main research interests are around sexual and reproductive health (SRH), stigma, pain, self-management, reproductive justice, and access to healthcare. I currently lead the Gender Pain Gap in Sexual & Reproductive Health project (part of the OU's Open Societal Challenges programme), and the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Collective project (2025-27), funded by the Foundation for the Sociology of Health and Illness. I also co-chair the OU's Reproduction, Sexualities and Sexual Health Research Group.  

I have contributed to numerous studies on abortion and contraception in the UK and internationally, including a recent collaboration with the BPAS Centre for Reproductive Research and Communication (CRRC) looking at the potential for integration of an AI chatbot to support medical abortion at home.

I lead the Wellcome Trust-funded Sexuality and Abortion Stigma Study (SASS). SASS took a ‘big qual’ qualitative secondary analysis approach to analysing UK datasets on abortion spanning 10+ years, to inform understanding of abortion stigma and normalisation. I was a collaborator on the award-winning Open University engagement project My Body, My Life and was a co-investigator on the Abortion During COVID-19 study.  

In previous roles, I worked on a variety of mixed-method projects relating to health and wellbeing, including process evaluations, implementation studies, qualitative secondary analyses, and mixed-method studies. As a result, I have a broad range of topical, methodological, and practical research expertise.  

My PhD research (2011) took a phenomenological-sociological narrative inquiry approach to understanding the practice of holistic massage, focusing on embodiment, touch, and alternative ways of knowing.  

Within the Open University, I am the WELS Faculty Impact and Engagement lead for REF Unit of Assessment C20. I co-lead the WELS Researcher Group, a faculty-wide initiative to support and develop the careers of staff on research-only contracts. I also sit on the OU’s Research Concordat Steering Group, which oversees the adherence to the principles of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers.   

I contribute to the wider research community in a number of ways. I am a member (and former co-chair) of the steering group for the Interdisciplinary Research in Sexual Health Network Scotland (IRESH) . I am also Associate Director of the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships , and an Honorary Research Fellow in the School for Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow. I am a member of the editorial board for BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and am a regular reviewer for numerous clinical and social scientific journals. I also contribute to a number of governmental and other advisory groups relating to my research interests.  

PhD supervision 

I am currently interested in supervising in the following areas: 

• sexual and reproductive health
• reproductive justice
• abortion
• contraception
• sexual and reproductive health-related pain
• embodiment

Professional Profiles 

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2651-9201

LinkedIn: https://profiles.open.ac.uk/carrie-purcell

ResearchGate: Carrie Purcell

Career history 

• Research Fellow (Scotland) - Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies, Open University (2022 - present) 
• Research Fellow - MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow (2018 - 2022) 
• Research Associate - MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow (2015 - 2018)
• Research Fellow - Usher Institute, University of Edinburgh (2013 - 2015) 
• Investigator Scientist - MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow (2012 - 2013) 

Qualifications 

• PhD in Sociology - University of Edinburgh (2011) 
• MSc by Research in Sociology - University of Edinburgh (2007) 
• MA SocSci in Sociology - University of Glasgow (2002) 

Impact and engagement

My recent engagement activities have included: 

Blogs and non-academic articles 

• Policy brief in collaboration with PolicyWISE on Experiences of Pain in Sexual & Reproductive Health Procedures and accompanying Comparative Angle blog
• OpenLearn article on Self-managed abortion in the UK
• BPAS Centre for Reproductive Research & Communication blog on Experiences of managing pain with early medical abortions: confusing comparisons and unclear expectations
• Centre for Research on Families and Relationships blog on Opportunities for connection and support around self-managed abortion
• British Sociological Association Everyday Society blog on Why we need to talk about abortion

Invited talks

• ‘Framing a Feminist Abortion: Imaging the Future of Abortion with the SISSDAA Principles’, Reproductive Justice Hallmark Research Initiative, University of Melbourne (August 2026)
• ‘The impact of painful SRH procedures: Lived experiences and priorities for change’, Scottish Interdisciplinary Research on Sexual Health Network Seminar Series (November 2025)
• 'The Gender Pain Gap in Sexual & Reproductive Health project', Tiger UK meeting (July 2025)
• ‘Developing a Sexual and Reproductive Justice Agenda for Scotland’, Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health: Hatfield Vision Priorities for Scotland, online (September 2024)
• ‘Abortion Stigma in the UK’, Doctors for Choice x Abortion Talk annual conference: Abortion: Decriminalise, Destigmatise, Demedicalise, London (June 2024)
• ‘Expectations and Experiences: Medical Abortion and Pain’, A BPAS Centre for Reproductive Research & Communication one-day workshop, London (April 2024)
• 'Pain in Abortion’, Abortion Rights Scotland, online (March 2024)
• ‘Happy Abortions: Reflections on normalisation after decriminalisation’, event hosted by Alliance for Choice, Belfast (August 2023)