Dr Martin Robb

Professor of Care Ethics and Culture

School of Health, Wellbeing & Social Care

martin.robb@open.ac.uk

ORCID Profile

Biography

Professional biography

Martin Robb is Professor of Care Ethics and Culture at The Open University (from 01.04.25). Based in the School of Health, Wellbeing and Social Care, he is the academic lead for the OU's MA in Childhood and Youth. Martin is the author of Men, Masculinities and the Care of Children: Images, Ideas and Identities (Routledge, 2020) and co-editor, with Kerry Jones, of Men and Loss: New Perspectives on Bereavement, Grief and Masculinity (Routledge, 2025). Martin co-edits the international interdisciplinary journal Children & Society. His academic research has been broadly concerned with issues relating to gender, identity and care and has included studies of men working in childcare, young men and care, fathering identities, and bereaved fathers. Martin hosts the Careful Thinking podcast, in which he explores ideas about care in conversation with writers, researchers and practitioners at the cutting edge of current thinking about care, and he recently launched a Care Ethics Interest Group at The Open University. Martin is writing a book on Gabriel Marcel and the Ethics of Care, to be published by Routledge in 2027. Before joining the Open University, he worked in education projects with socially disadvantaged groups and communities.

Research interests

Care ethics and personalism
Fathers and perinatal loss (2021 - 2023)
Young men, masculinity and wellbeing (principal investigator, in partnership with Promundo, funded by Axe/Unilever, 2016-17)
Beyond male role models: gender identities and practices in work with young men (principal investigator; in partnership with Action for Children, funded by ESRC, 2013-2015)
Fatherhood and identity (funded by Faculty of Health and Social Care Committee, 2001)
Men, masculinities and childcare (funded by Faculty of Health and Social Care Research Committee, 1998)
Project to assess the training needs of people working with parents and primary carers (with Parenting Education and Support Forum, funded by Home Office, 1999-2000)
Reading, discourse and learning (funded by Institute of Educational Technology Research Committee, 1996)

Teaching interests

Current and recent teaching responsibilities include:

E822 Masters multi-disciplinary dissertation module: education, childhood and youth: chair, author
K804 Developing advanced clinical practice: co-chair
E809 Frameworks for critical practice with children and young people: chair, author, co-editor
E808 Children's and young people's worlds: author, co-editor
KE206 Making a difference: working with children and young people: author
K828 Researching and evaluating healthcare practice (rewrite): chair
K827 Advancing Healthcare Practice (rewrite): co-chair
EK313 Research with Children and Young People: Reader editor and author
K802 Critical Practice with Children and Young People: chair and author
KE308 Youth: Perspectives and Practice: co-chair and author
K309 Communication in Health and Social Care: chair and author
K204 Working with Children and Families: author

Current and recent postgraduate supervision includes:

Rachel Wood (co-design of parenting education for women in the criminal justice system)
Laura Horne (using a trauma-informed approach in a school setting)
Gemma Ballard (fathers and perinatal mental health)
Aaron Mvula (young fathers in Zambia)
Samantha Goodliffe (families and celiac disease)
Ned Redmore (parenting and autistic adults)
Christopher Chaloner (older fathers)
Katia Narzisi (international adoptions in Italy)
Alison Davies (parental constructions of ADHD)
Jeff Hunt (fatherhood and masculine identity)
Ian Ndlovu (street children in Zimbabwe))
Jane Reeves (socially excluded young fathers)

Impact and engagement

Co-editor, Children & Society
Host, Careful Thinking podcast
Member, ESRC Peer Review College
Member, Advisory group and expert panel, National Evaluation of 'A Better Start' programme
Member, Fathers Development Foundation advisory group
Member, Men as Change Agents Working Group: Government Equalities Office/Women's Business Council
Panel member, National Consultation with Women: Government Equalities Office, November 2014
Independent expert representing UK at European Commission exchange of good practice seminar on role of men in gender equality: Helsinki, Finland, October 2014

External collaborations

Axe/Unilever-funded research project 'Young men, masculinity and wellbeing' (2016-17), in collaboration with Promundo-US
ESRC-funded research project 'Beyond Male Role Models' (2013-2015), in collaboration with Action for Children

Projects

Young men, masculinity and well-being

This research project, organised on behalf of Promundo-US, will use focus groups to explore the attitudes and experiences of a cross-section of British young men, with the aim of examining connections between masculine identity and well-being. The project, which builds on a questionnaire survey commissioned by Promundo, forms part of a three-country study in the UK, the US and Mexico.

Do boys need male role models? Gender Identities and Practices in Work with Young Men

Young men have become a key focus of public anxiety in recent years, with widespread concern about educational under-achievement, poor mental health and anti-social behaviour. One popular explanation for these poor outcomes has been the absence of male role models from the lives of many vulnerable young men, resulting in a number of initiatives aimed at increasing male involvement in boys' lives and recruiting more men to work in educational and welfare settings. But how much do we know about the part played by gender in work with young men? Does it really make a difference if boys are surrounded by positive male role models? This project has provided a unique opportunity to explore these questions, in a way that offers fresh insights into young men's lives and contributes to improving professional relationships. The project has been developed in partnership between a team at The Open University and a national charity, Action for Children. The research was carried out at projects throughout the UK and included focus groups and individual interviews with service users and staff, and an analysis of policy documents, media stories and academic texts. It includes a comprehensive dissemination process, including a short film, aimed at sharing the findings of the research with a wide audience, with a view to increasing understanding of the issues and improving practice in work with boys and young men.