Prof Jacqui Gabb

Professional biography

I joined The Open University in 2004 as a Staff Tutor and lecturer in Sociology. After moving to the Department of Social Policy and Criminology (SPC), I worked on research methods and family studies curriculum. I was appointed as the Associate Dean for Research in the Faculty of Social Sciences (2014-2016). I then returned to my substantive post as Professor of Sociology and Intimacy, taking up a series of research leadership roles. I was the 'Tackling Iinequalities' Lead for Open Societal Challenges having previously been Co-Director for the Citizenship and Governance strategic research area, leading the Gender, Intimacies, Sexuality (GENIES) research stream, and Co-Director of the Families, Relationships and Communities Programme in the Centre for Citizenship, Identities and Governance (CCIG).

I retired from the Open University in June 2024, and am now an Emerit Professor.

I have been commited to impactful research throughout my career. As a result of my landmark ESRC-funded study of couple relationships Enduring Love?, I was seconded (part-time) to work as the Chief Relationships Officer with Paired, the global #1 app for couples. The app is designed to improve communication and deepen intimacy through daily interactions.

My research and innovative impact activities have been recognised by three prestigious awards: the BSA Philip Abrams Memorial prize (2009) for best sole-authored first book in Sociology, the Open University Engaging Research Award (2014), the Evelyn Gillian Research Impact Award (2016). 

Research interests

I am interested in exploring interdisciplinary approaches for researching and theorizing intimacy and personal relationships, working in the fields of Family and Sexuality Studies. I also have established interests in mixed methods and multiple qualitative methods research. I have completed RCUK-funded projects on couple relationships, lesbian parenthood, intimacy and sexuality in families, and post-divorce fatherhood. I am currently completing a Wellcome Trust (UNS39780) project on LGBTQ youth and mental health with Liz McDermott (Lancaster University). My recent ESRC-funded study on long-term couple relationships Enduring Love? (RES-063-23-3056) has received awards for impact and widespread critical acclaim, with findings being reported in the national and international media, and published in academic, self-help, relationship support and educational formats.  

Recent doctoral research student supervision includes:

Rochelle Mallet (2025), Combining queer theory and children’s rights: a case study of early years practitioners’ approaches to gender in the early years learning environment

Amy Dean (2023), Young people and sex education

Tom Witney (2020), Same-sex couples in serodiscordant partnerships in the UK

Olga Plakhotnik (2019), Queer kinship: sexual citizenship in Ukraine

Danni Pearson (2015), The trials, tribulations and celebrations of long-term, same-sex partner relationships

Thierry Chessum (2015), Graphic interrogation in psychosocial research: comics AND Deleuze AND middle-aged men

Teaching interests

My teaching time at The Open University is focused on the development and production of postgraduate curriculum, particularly research methods. I am currently working with colleagues on a module in production, DD215 Social research: crime, justice and society.

I was Module Team Chair (production) of Introduction to quantitative and qualitative research methods (D849). I have been module team chair of Investigating the Psychological World (D821) and Investigating the Social World (D822), and a module team member of Research methods dissertation in social sciences (D845). I also contributed to the third level sociological module Making Social Worlds (DD308) - writing the chapter on 'Family Attachments' in one of the core texts.

Impact and engagement

The Enduring Love? study investigated how couples experience and understand their long-term relationships. Media coverage of the launch of study findings featured on national and international live and pre-corded television and radio, including: BBC World News, BBC Four News and CNN. There was extensive coverage in print and online media, including: the New York Post (USA), LA Times (USA), Le Point (France), The Age (Australia), South China Morning Post, Pink News, and all major UK newspapers. Findings continue to inform debate on couple diversity and the ways that relationships endure over the life course.

I was seconded to the award-winning Paired app as the Chief Relationships Officer (2020-23). In the policy arena, I have been invited to participate in all-party parliamentary briefings, receptions and consultation events. Research evidence has been presented to government departments (DfE, DWP and The Treasury) and parliamentary policy making groups (Centre for Social Justice and Labour Policy Review), enabling them to refine their understandings of family and relationship support.

Findings have been disseminated to frontline relationship support staff through conference and workshop presentations, and in collaboration with family systemic psychotherapists, the emotion map research method has been adapted for use in clinical practice as part of the clinical assessment toolkit.

In collaboration with Brook, we have ‘translated’ findings into online relationship information resources for young people and an eLearning teaching pack designed for teachers for use in schools as part of sex and relationship education (SRE). Launched at the House of Commons (13/09/16) these materials are designed to enable young people to learn about how relationships work and thus develop more realistic expectations that can be fulfilled.

Findings have also been published for a general readership in a self-help handbook The Secrets of Enduring Love (Penguin, Random House, 2016) and in a series of films The Art of Relationships. Academic publications include Couple Relationships in the 21st Century (Palgrave, 2015).

External collaborations

I was Co-editor (2010-2016) of Families, Relationships, Societies and now serve as an Editorial Management Board member on this international journal published by Policy Press. Other editorial roles include: Chair of the Editorial Board for the journal Sociological Research Online (2008-2011), Associate Editorial Board member for Sociology (2008-2010), and Editorial Assistant of Feminist Theory (1998-2001).

I have held executive positions in learned societies including Trustee for the British Sociological Association and co-convenor of the BSA Families and Relationships Study Group (2008-2011). I was an Executive Committee Member for the Feminist and Women's Studies Association (2007-2010), during which time I established the highly successful annual Palgrave Macmillan FWSA Book Prize.

I have served on several national funding bodies, including a serving member on the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Grants Assessment Panel (GAP) B, an invited member of the ESRC peer review college, and review panel member for Nordic Research Councils in the Humanities & Social Sciences (NOS-HS)